VanDread The Fox
by Freedom Guard
Summary: Yet another creation of mine using Naruto, the Megele crew strike out at the Ikazuchi, unaware that there is a new person in the ship who is a man, but NOT one of the men of Talark.
1. Chapter 1

VanDread: The Fox

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Naruto and VanDread.

Prologue…

( ): Thoughts

…

In Konoha…

The village of the Hidden Leaf had seen a lot of things happen in a very short span of time, it had weathered much and now it was standing all. The village of the Land of Fire now had new hope and the people were able to enjoy a new period of peace and prosperity while still making sure to keep up in protecting the balance between the Five Elemental Countries. The Shinobi Alliance had lost many of it's members, but they had won the war with Uchiha Madara and Sasuke Uchiha. The war had been led by the Five Kages, who had survived the battle though it had been with the aid of one of the most recognized heroes of the village of Konoha.

Who ironically was once the object of hatred and fear due to being a Jinchuuriki for the majority of his life, Naruto Uzumaki who had once been the class clown and the object of hidden scorn and hatred was now considered the savior and hero of the village after his battles with Akatsuki and with Pain when the ninja attacked the village. When he and the last of the Jinchuuriki, Killer Bee had fought together to face off with the leader of Akatsuki and to ensure the defeat of the man's plans, it was a battle of titanic proportions and had literally been a battle that shook the very foundations of the world.

It was here that Naruto used the power bestowed on him by Sasuke's brother Itachi to defeat his former friend. It was enough to ensure that while he would survive, he would no longer be a threat to the world as his Sharingan, despite the implants of his brother's eyes by the maniac Uchiha head was completely deactivated, rendering him blind to the world in every sense of the word. This had finally put an end to Madara's plans and his eventual death at the hands of the two Jinchuuriki had been assured. There had been some dark moments as both were pushed their absolute limits and then some, but it was over and Madara, finally died and was no longer a threat to the freedom of the world

After the battle, all five villages wanted Sasuke punished for his crimes, but Naruto decided to speak and not kill Sasuke, even though others disagreed, he reminded them that he had been the one to stop his former friend and therefore it was up to him how he would be dealt with. Sasuke raged and insulted Naruto, calling him nothing more than scum, but Naruto was no longer easily goaded and while still feeling a measure of friendship to Sasuke, he saw that the friend he once had was gone. But without the Sharingan and his ability to see, Naruto decided to exile Sasuke in a prison that would ensure that he would no longer be a threat to anyone, but he was to be provided humane treatment, food, water, and medicine, even if he refused. The former Uchiha spat at that, but even in his hatred, he knew that nothing would change things, his desire to use his hatred on the world was destroyed and he now was in darkness forever.

After that, Tsunade served as Hokage for three more years until she relinquished her position to Naruto. But before she left the position of Hokage, she decided to reveal Naruto's true heritage to the village. Upon hearing of Naruto's parentage and the real events surrounding the deaths of the Fourth Hokage and his wife, the villagers who had before treated Naruto with hatred, resentment, and contempt found themselves horrified at how they had treated Naruto when he was a child and sought to ask for his forgiveness for their actions. The others who were his friends were surprised, even more so were the other Jonin apart from Kakashi who had long since known of Naruto's true parentage.

…

When he took the rank of Hokage at age nineteen, the youngest Konoha ninja on record to ever ascend that rank since his father Minato, Naruto assembled the villagers and began to point out those who had always looked down on him…and forgave them, much to their shock. He then told them that after all he had been through, he understood how they felt now and why they resented him so much. But he showed that he still saw them as people he would protect and he had never allowed the harshness and difficulty of his life to bring him down and he did everything that he could manage to do to show that he was more than what he seemed to them.

And now he had succeeded, though he admitted that even though he had achieved his lifelong dream and had brought peace to the lands, he was still a bit unsure about being Hokage as he was not as gifted as the others before him, namely his father. He tearfully wished that his parents were here to see their son become Hokage and that was enough to make people nod in agreement and they supported him.

He then asked that several people step forward when called, he called Kakashi, Iruka, Yamato, Sai Tsunade, much to the Sannin's surprise, and Shizune. He told them that they were going to be the new members of the Council as he trusted them all with his own life. This surprised many, including the ones in question, but they accepted it even though Tsunade was not looking forward to looking at papers once more. Naruto however assured her that she was not going to be working alone this time around.

Naruto vowed to do everything he can to make the Will of Fire burn for all, and the generations that were soon to come into this world. He then asked for the support of the people to achieve that goal together, and that was something that made every member of the village smile, along with those who Naruto considered as his life long friends. When he became Hokage, he was told that as the last descendant of the Uzumaki Clan, he had a choice to rebuild the clan and give rise to it once more by those who were well versed in the laws of the land. The law stated that as a legitimate heir to a clan that was still alive after so many years, he had that choice to marry and help rebuild the clan from scratch.

He consulted his new councilors on that suggestion and they agreed that it had merit, but it was his decision to do so as the legitimate heir and Hokage of the village. He was a bit worried about it and decided to think it over carefully as he wanted to make a good marriage and not one of mere law or convenience. He had no idea that he was going to be in for more than he bargained for as the news of the situation filtered through Konoha itself, and eventually the rest of the world. It was not long before he was greeted by a wave of letters from various women who wished to aid in the rebuilding of his clan.

There were letters from ninja and civilians alike from the Land of Fire and also from other lands and nations as well. He was surprised to find several names from other lands that he recognized.

One was from the Land of Demons, from Head Priestess Shion, there she reminded him that she still needed his help to give her powers to a new Priestess. The other was from the Land of Snow/Spring as Koyuki was happy to see him grow up to be the man she hoped he would be, and now she wanted to see just how much he had grown up. The next was from the Land of Vegetables as Haruna wanted to see how he had grown up as well, and she also wanted to thank him for all he had done to change her as a better person. The next was from the Land of Birds as Toki herself expressed great happiness for him and wished to help him in running his village and become a good man in more ways than one. The one that surprised him the most was a letter from Temari of all people.

He had not expected that of all things, but Temari replied that this was requested by the Council in Suna and even Gaara supported the idea of her being married to him. Besides, Temari had to admit that she had found him to be a good looking man, and a trust worthy one…plus he was the only male that her two male siblings respected and approved of as a potential boyfriend or in this case, husband..

It was not just from other nations and Lands that the letters came from, it was in the Land of Fire as well, he received a letter from Amaru who had become one of the most recognized doctors and surgeons in the land, she wanted to thank him for all he had done for her in her darkest hour and to help heal him in any way that she could. There was also a letter from Hinata herself, asking if he would not mind if she was able to show the full extent of how she loved him for as long as she could remember.

He was still trying to get used to all the attention and got the chance to talk with Sakura about it as she could be able to help him figure out what to do with this kind of situation, and after some time, the Kunoichi told her blonde friend and Hokage that it would be better if he got to have some time with them all to see if he should accept them into the clan when it was time for him to start with rebuilding the clan he belonged to. He however decided to ask if she was willing to be among them. That had been a tense moment as Naruto tried to explain that he loved Sakura for years and wished to at least know if there was a chance that she could love him back.

To his surprise, she agreed and after the women in question arrived, it was going to be a long series of days spent getting to know one another and developing levels of trust and respect between the women. Naruto himself did his best to try and learn as much from them as he could while developing bonds with them as well. It was not long, rather four to ten months before Naruto finally agreed to the idea of being the head of the reborn Uzumaki Clan, It was one heck of a wedding and Naruto wondered just how his parents and his godfather would react to this if they were still very much alive today. No doubt his godfather would have wanted him to spill the beans about the wedding night he was going to have and his mother would warn him not to be too rough with the women in his life now and she might wonder if he could handle being with this many females. He didn't even want to guess how his father would have taken it as well, but he had no doubt his father would have been laughing a bit at his expense somewhat

…

But all that was in the past now, Naruto served as Hokage for over forty years and rose to be recognized as a Hokage with few equal, rivaling his father and even the other Hokage before him. In his reign, it was the one where while there had been conflict between different ninja and civilian factions; there had been peace and prosperity as well as cooperation and unity in the land.

Despite already reaching the age of fifty nine, Naruto still retained his young healthy look and vitality, and unlike the Sannin Tsunade, there was no age and body manipulation involved as Naruto's Uzumaki heritage made itself known. As he was gifted by his clan with great levels of vitality and stamina, he was able to live for a much longer time than others and also have a level of health that was remarkable and give him energy and chakra that was beyond the norm, something that everyone was now aware of. However, the Kyuubi's now purified chakra added to that by giving him remarkable physical abilities and peek health as well as healing rates. This made him nigh immortal in some cases, though he was still liable to die of old age or very fatal wounds.

All this made him carry the title of the Immortal Orange Hokage, something that was not going to fade away no matter what he said about it. Of course, for every benefit, there was a trade off…

Naruto had aged slower than the others in his family and his friends, so when they would pass on, he would still linger. This was something that was difficult on the blonde Sannin and Hokage for the many years that he reigned though he always kept his mind sharp and lived life with every fiber of his being so he had no regrets being in this life.

His clan had grown, he had a large number of children, and grand children, and was now one of the most recognized clans in the rebuilt village of Konoha, something that sent in a good measure of pride in the Hokage. And when the time came, he finally decided to pass on the title of Hokage to his one apprentice who had proven himself to be a great man and a great warrior of the village, and he knew that his apprentice's grandfather, father, and uncle would be proud.

As for him, the time had come to pass the torch on to the next generation, or in his case, the new generation to come. It was high time that another would rise to take the rank of Kage as he knew that his time had come, since despite his still youthful appearance he was already reaching retirement age and it would be wrong for him to take all the glory for himself, he was not that kind of person to do such things or think in such fashions.

…

In the Hokage Tower…

Konohamaru looked at Naruto as the Hokage handed him the symbolic hat that denoted the rank of Kage. The now Jonin ranked grandson of Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the hat and then to his former teacher with sad eyes.

"Are you sure about this boss?"

"Why are you asking me that question? You've wanted to be Hokage yourself right? And you've worked hard to be the right man for the job Konohamaru."

"But still, you're the Immortal Orange Hokage Boss, there's no way I can ever surpass you."

Naruto sternly replied.

"Don't think like that, being Hokage is not about being famous or recognized all the time Konohamaru, you have a duty and a responsibility towards the village of Konoha, as well as your family. Keep that and the Will of Fire in your mind always. Besides, it's your time to make your own legacy."

The Jonin looked at the man he had admired since the day they met and learned the important lesson of working hard to achieve one's dream. He smiled and took the hat and replied.

"I accept the position of Hokage, Hokage-sama."

Naruto smirked and replied.

"Good, and it's about time to used that title."

It was then that another figure came who Naruto easily recognized even with the looks of old age on him. Ebisu was still the same as before but had served well as a special trainer for many promising ninja in the village like before. Naruto knew that to be true as a number of his children had been Ebisu's students after all. The Jonin spoke then to Naruto with great respect in his voice as he did so.

"I will do my best to help Konohamaru-san to achieve his dream and make a legacy he can be proud of Hokage-sama."

"I have no doubt that you will. Now then, we have much to prepare, but for now, I need to take some time alone for myself."

…

Naruto headed to the new Uzumaki estate, the place was deserted for today as his family had been very busy on their daily routines in the village as well as their duties abroad and all of them were now bunking down for the night. He made his way to the graveyard there and looked at the gravestones. He felt some sadness as he looked at them all, they had the names of the women he had been married to as they had now passed on into the afterlife, this was one of the reasons why he had some desire to pass on the mantle of leadership.

He was hardly a coward, but he wanted to take some time for himself, he had done so much and he had so many memories that he wanted to take a break from them all, just for a bit. As he looked at each gravestone, he gently recalled all of the memories he had with the women he had fallen in love with and married. He looked at Sakura's gravestone, Temari's gravestone, and then Hinata's, then Amaru's, Shion's own gravestone, Koyuki's, Toki',s and Haruna's. As he looked at them he touched each stone gently, running his hands on their names and remembering all the good times and bad times, as well as the…pleasurable times.

Each woman brought a facet of happiness in his life and it was something that he was going remember well and keep close to him at all times. Raising his children had been a good thing for him and them as well and while there were ups and downs in those times, he would never trade those moments for all the ryo in the world.

Many of his children would up as ninjas of great skill though others took the role of Daimyo, and Priests as well as Doctors, this made the Uzumaki Clan become famous once more and in some ways, some considered the to be almost as capable as the famed Senju Clan of the past though they were also gifted in their Sealing Jutsu as Naruto inherited from his mother's sealed records and those of his father's.

He inherited his father's signature Kunai and had a pair of swords specially made for him by Koyuki's order and had a coat similar to his old one made as well. And he had no doubt that his clan's new generation was going to make their marks in their world soon. He wished them all the best for what they were going to do in the future. He did so by passing the Toad Summoning Contract to his eldest son Minato who was his first born son with Sakura and also to Ryu who was his first born son with Hinata, he had no doubt that both his eldest sons, who he would also make as the new dual clan heads of their family would be good leaders.

It was then that he felt something stir in the wind and he quickly turned and drew out a kunai and found himself facing someone who he didn't recognize as there were shadows hiding his or her appearance from sight.

"Who are you?"

"So…you are the Immortal Orange Hokage, the head of the newly rebuilt Uzumaki Clan."

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked at the being and replied once more.

"I don't know who you are, but unless you start talking, I am going to assume you are a threat and I am going to deal with you right now!"

The figure chuckled and replied.

"Now that is hardly the way to speak to one of your own young man, though I have to admit, you so resemble your mother in nature and attitude I should not be surprised."

Naruto's anger stopped cold as he looked at the figure, it was then that he noted some sort of glow around the figure who then revealed himself…or rather herself. The figure was of a woman who seemed to have a regal bearing and wore an elaborate but battle ready kimono and had to seal tags on her hair. She was beautiful and carried herself with a regal and powerful bearing as well. She also radiated the aura of a ninja like him, though hers was far different, yet familiar at the very same time.

He quickly recognized her well enough, after all, his mother Kushina had talked about her and even showed her an image of the woman in question.

"Y-You're Mito Uzumaki! The first Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi….and…"

Mito smiled and finished for the flabbergasted blonde Hokage.

"Wife of the First Hokage…and Great Grand Aunt of your mother Kushina, it is a pleasure to finally meet my dear nephew in person….even though I'm not exactly alive to begin with."

Naruto had one fear that lingered on despite his age and experience and that was the fear of ghosts or the supernatural…ironic for a man who had faced so many threats at so young an age when he was still a Genin.

"Y-Y-You're a ghost?"

"Not exactly, it's true that I am dead, but I am not bound here to the world of the living like ghosts do. I came here to speak to you in person."

"About what?"

"About your desire to stand down as Hokage, or rather the feeling you have in you for some time. You've accomplished so much in your time, you have accomplished your dreams and you have managed to bring the dreams of your godfather to reality. Now…you feel lost, as if you are alive without direction, or am I wrong young one?"

Naruto remained silent and then replied.

"Yeah, I've accomplished my dream of being Hokage, brought the dream of peace of the Pervy Sage, and even have such a family now. But I do feel kind of empty, it's not bad, but it is there still."

"That is to be expected, you have accomplished your destiny after all and you have lived your life fully, I guess you can call what you are feeling a crisis of purpose. It happens to those who have accomplished much in their lives, they had done so many things that they have developed a desire to do more good things. In other words, you're bored."

"But that's strange isn't it? I mean, I've been bored before, but I never felt bored like this before."

"True, but it is there nonetheless, you craved challenges all your life Naruto, you struggled to succeed in everything to reach your dreams. But now that you've done it all and you've accomplished them, you feel as if there is nothing left for you. Normally this would not be a problem, but I believe that you feel this way since there are no longer reasons for you to grow stronger, and with the fact that you are still young due to the clan's vitality and stamina and the Kyuubi's now purified chakra in you."

Naruto nodded at that as Mito did make sense, with no more threats to push him to his limits, and his accomplishment of his dreams, there was some level of emptiness in him. It was not that he regretted anything and everything that he had done in his life, he would never change what he had done even if he had the chance to do so…but still, the emptiness he felt was there, adding the fact that he was something of an Immortal due to his clan's gifts of vitality and stamina, time seemed to move so slowly to him, that made him feel as if he was not going to grow up anymore.

Mito then smiled.

"However, I have a plan, your destiny here in this world, your duty here is over, and you have so much potential left to use. So I believe that you need to continue pushing yourself and grow stronger, so when you finally meet your end and join your loved ones in heaven, which is a just reward for all you have done, you will no longer feel empty at all and you can therefore have much to tell them, and I have no doubt that it will be welcomed by them all."

Naruto raised an eye brow at that suggestion by his fellow clan member and his aunt as well.

"What exactly do you have in mind?"

Mito smiled warmly at that and decided to reply.

"That is something that I shall show to you all in due time Naruto, for now however, I want you to go through with your plans of stepping down from your place as Hokage, the future is now in the hands of the younger generation, and you have much promise and potential left in you that using it here will not be the same anymore. Before I reveal my plan to you, I wish you bid farewell to all those who know, therefore it will be easier."

"When I do all that, what am I supposed to do afterwards?"

"Meet me in the one place where everything for you changed, the Valley of the End."

With that, Mito vanished, leaving Naruto to think over what she had told him, after a few minutes or so, he looked at the gravestones of his wives and nodded to them, feeling that this was the right decision despite his still lingering doubts on the whole thing.

With that in mind, he made his way into the compound and rested for the night, knowing that tomorrow was going to be a very long discussion with his family.

…

The next day…

At the gates of Konoha, a large group gathered, in fact it was actually the entire village who was there at the gates, young and old alike, civilian and ninja, after all, one of their own was about to leave. Many watched as Naruto, now fully dressed, armed, and ready to go on his own personal sojourn was there before them all. He had also bidden farewell to his old Council and they wished him all the best though he prayed to Tsunade and Shizune as they had passed away already. He missed his adopted grandmother and hoped that she was finally able to be happy with her loved ones….even Jiraiya in heaven.

In the past, many villagers would have loved to see the sight of Naruto leaving their village, all because of their anger and resentment for him being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. They would have held a celebration all over the village as privately as they could now that the Demon Fox was no longer in their village. The reminder of all the lives lost that night so many years ago, and the death of the beloved Fourth Hokage and his wife, along with so many sons, grandsons, daughters, granddaughters, sisters, brothers, and parents.

But that was then, now after Naruto long and prosperous reign as the Immortal Orange Hokage, the atmosphere was not of jubilation, but of sadness. Many of the village elders were those who had been there during the Invasion of Pain, they all remembered how the dead leader of Akatsuki had killed so many of their people and ruined the village and it was Naruto who defeated him as well as defeating Madara and Sasuke in the Fourth Shinobi War. They were saddened by the fact that he was about to leave the village forever, some asked if he was going to become a Missing Ninja, and he replied that he was not, merely going to tour the world before finally meeting his end.

This was not easy for them and neither was it for Naruto but after a while he bid them all goodbye and told the younger ninjas there who had been those who he had seen grow up into fine people that the future was in their hands now and he wished them to keep the Will of Fire burning for as long as they were able to do so. Many of them vowed to their former Hokage that they would keep that promise to him no matter what happened.

He sensed that they meant it and as soon as he was ready, dressed in his own long coat that he had worn in his battle with Pain as well as his headband and vest, his swords on his back, his regular and special kunai with him, as well as his spare clothes, scrolls, shuriken, and other things he might need in this new task before him, he bid them all farewell. As he did so, Naruto looked at the rebuilt village once more, the people there in the gate and he saw the village in the past and saw all of his friends who had passed away, he knew that they were long gone, but he saw them waving at him goodbye along with the people he had cared for in his younger days.

He gave them all one final waves and soon left.

He traveled to the rest of the lands that he felt that he could visit with the time given to him, namely the village of Suna, then the village where Amaru once lived, then the Land of Snow/Spring, the Land of Vegetables, the Land of Demons, and The Land of Birds. Each place he visited in many occasions and all held good memories for him and he vowed never to forget the things he had done in each of these locations.

Once he was done, me made his way to the Valley of the End, the place had been changed by the battle between him and Sasuke all those years ago, and he still remembered just what had happened in the valley so long ago. He looked at the statue of Madara and glared darkly at the man it represented, knowing full well what the man had done to so many people, all for his own desires to rule the world and what it cost to stop him and destroy his plans for good. He then looked at the damage that happened in the valley and then directed his attention to one spot.

The very same place where he and Sasuke used both Rasengan and Chidori on one another, as he stood there in that single spot, memories came back and he sighed at them, knowing full well where they were going to lead.

"I see you've made it Naruto."

Naruto turned there was Mito smiling at him gently, she still had the same aura and power, but he could see why she was loved by the villagers of her time. The former living Kunoichi, the first Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, and wife of the First Hokage looked at her nephew and marveled at how much her line had grown and changed, she placed that aside for the time being and spoke to Naruto.

"this place is where it all began for you, in a way I suppose."

"You are right, but why here of all places."

"Events have a tendency to leave behind marks, both physical and spiritual, when you and Sasuke fought here, both with the Cursed Seal and the Kyuubi's old chakra, it left not just a physical impression but an impression in the leylines that run through here. This place has been altered, but it takes great power, power that has long been lost to those today."

"Okay…I think I can understand some of what you are saying."

"Good, I see that your father's intellect was not totally denied from you, you will need that in the place you will go. Now then, these changes in the leylines can also affect other places and even the powers there. If properly harnessed, it can act as doorways to other locations."

"Like a teleportation Jutsu?"

"Correct, though in this case, there is little hand signs involved, I have learned much when I was in the spirit world and I shall open a doorway for you. However I must warn you about something important."

"That is?"

"The portal that I shall summon will be somewhat unpredictable, it will take you to a new world but it will be difficult to say where you shall wind up."

Naruto did not like the sound of that and made that clear to Mito.

"That's not very reassuring, I could wind up in a volcano or a monster's stomach for all I know."

The Kunoichi smiled a bit at him and replied patiently.

"You have no need to worry, I will ensure that the portal will remain stable and take you to a safe place in that world. Know that it will be a different and odd journey where you must go, and there is no telling what you will encounter, and the kind of people you shall meet there, but I have no doubt in you that you shall be able to make the most of it."

"You already have accomplished much in this world we all come from, and now you will travel to another world to make your way there."

"Okay, I understand, but what happens to me while I am there in the new world? Am I going to change into something or someone else?"

"No, you will be as you are, and while you live in that new world, you will be the same as you were here in this world of ours. When the time comes for you to move on into heaven, you will be guided there by me personally and I have no doubt that when you meet your friends and family, you will much to tell them."

Naruto smiled at the thought, but then realized something.

"Okay then, but what happens to those I leave behind in the world I will live in when I die?"

Mito thought about that and replied as she was able to find the answer.

"They shall come with you when you pass on and they as well, when that occurs, they will join you in the afterlife. That is to be fair to them all as you will forge bonds with them, so it would be wrong for you to sever those bonds even in death, for it is your ability to forge bonds and change people that made you who you are."

Naruto smiled a bit at that as he thought over the idea of being in a new world, seeing new things, meeting new people, fighting in new battles and those thoughts warmed him in a way that made him feel even more alive than ever before. This was the kind of thing that he wanted, to see new places, to face new challenges, and to help others. His time as Hokage made him grow stronger as he led Konoha in times of peace and at times conflict, he was not the same anymore when he was young, but he had not changed too much, the things that made him into who he was now had never faded away and he was going to keep it that way.

Mito noted that easily and spoke to him.

"Are you ready for this Naruto?"

The blonde nodded and replied in his ever so confident voice.

"I am, it doesn't matter where I go in the new world or what dangers I will face in the long run, I am ready and I will do everything in my power to make sure that no matter what I face or what danger awaits me, I will succeed in what I was sent out to do, but I have to ask, what of the Kyuubi? It's still in me after all so there's no telling what might happen in what I am going to be doing so there is a chance the old fur ball is going to try and take advantage of it."

The Kunoichi replied to that.

"You have no need to fear the Kyuubi now, you have mastered it's chakra and it is yours to command, it will live and it will remain there in you Naruto, but there is little reason for you to worry. The Kyuubi is without it's power and you have tamed it enough and caged it well inside yourself. It knows that if you were to die, it will die, and without the full power it once had and it's hate no longer tainting you, it cannot affect you like it has done in the past."

That was a good news to the blonde has he was not in the mood to have the demon loose in the world once more doing Kami knows what to the people who lived in it, and he was certainly not in the mood for the Kyuubi to be doing who knows what in the new world that he was soon going to be in, besides, he had his doubts that the new world knows anything about the Kyuubi itself and despite the fact he did have some dislike in having the Kyuubi in him, he had grown used to it already, and the purified chakra was going to come in handy in the long run.

"Okay, let's do this Mito-san."

The Kunoichi nodded and began making some very unique hand seals in a pattern that was too fast for Naruto to follow, and soon he felt the flow of chakra in the air, showing that this was indeed a jutsu that he had seen before in action, he briefly wondered if it was recorded in the Forbidden Scroll somewhere and placed that out of his mind for the time being as he focused on other things. Soon the air before him crackled with power and light and a glowing blue sphere appeared.

It then began to spin before him and Mito and soon the sphere collapsed in the middle and the sphere was now like a hoop of pure energy that soon stabilized. Naruto looked at Mito and she nodded with a smile.

"It is ready, good luck Naruto and may you do well in the world where your new destiny awaits you, make the most of it all right?"

Naruto nodded and with all of his belongings with him and stored away in scrolls, he stepped through the portal, Mito smiled for the last time and faded away as the portal closed behind Naruto.

Naruto Uzumaki, founder and former head of the Uzumaki Clan, the Sixth Immortal Orange Hokage of Konoha, the New Sannin, and one of the most celebrated ninja in the Land of Fire now left behind the world he had brought to an era of possibilities into the hands of the new generation. He was now going into a brand new world and make his own way in this new world. He had no idea where he was going to land in, or what were the challenges there, or who were the kind of people he was going to meet. But there was one thing that the blonde Hokage knew for a certainty.

There was going to be nothing dull in where he was going to be going soon.

…

In a certain desert planet…

"Hey Naruto! We're going to watch a movie, you coming?"

"Uh, no thanks guys, I've got some things to catch up on."

The men turned and spoke to one another as they left the factory where they had been working in for the past few hours.

"That guy really is dedicated to the job isn't he? Sometimes I think he's got lug nuts for brains!"

"Say what you like, but he's one of the best mechanics I've seen, and you got to admit, he's not bad looking either, makes me wonder why he's a Third Class like the rest of us."

"Yeah…maybe I should ask him if he wouldn't mind having a kid with me."

"Hah! Lots of luck with that, I think that guy's a bit queer if you ask me."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you're not the first to ask him that, and he always turns it down. It's like he's not into his fellow man or something, I got to say this much about that Naruto, if he ain't careful, he's going to end up being one lonely man."

As soon as the group was out of earshot, the blonde former Hokage and Sannin couldn't help but shudder as his perfected hearing was quick to pick up what they were talking about. It was going to be a freezing day in hell when he was going to give his seed to any man. The idea of him having a kid with a man still scared the crap out of him, and it took all of his ninja discipline to keep himself from hurling the contents of his stomach. After being with his wives for many years and being able to enjoy the good things about being with women and learning much from them, one thing was certain in the former Hokage's mind.

These men had NO idea what they were missing out on when it concerned women. Not that he was going to tell them, nor were they going to listen to him or believe him in the first place even if he tried.

Naruto reached his home in the city and began to get ready to leave this place, or rather, this whole planet.

(Six months…six long months since I got sent here by Mito-san…does she have such a twisted sense of humor or something by sending me into a planet filled with only men with seriously flawed ideas of women? Am I supposed to make an entire planet of males with serious women issues change and like women again? By the Kami, I swear if this is some joke, I am really going to give her a piece of my mind when I find a way to meet her again, clan member or no!)

(Still maybe this world is just a resting point, it might be elsewhere, and seeing the rest of this new dimension or place I am in is kind of tempting to say the very least, but I guess the only way I find out if that is true or not is to get into the male fleet itself, that's going to be child's play.)

It had been six months since he found himself in this world called Talark, he had arrived through the portal and to his shock, found himself in the desert, at first he thought that the portal had malfunctioned on him or something and he was back in Suna. He looked around and tried to find any marks that he would be able to recognize and he even sent Kage Bushin out to find the city and see if he could find Gaara or Matsuri or any of their grandchildren. But to his surprise he didn't find any and so he had to trek through the desert and find water along the way. Thankfully his ability of using Senjutsu allowed him to finally locate a great amount of chakra and that soon led him to what appeared to be some sort of city in a massive canyon.

The city was somewhat similar to some of the cities he had already been to both in his career as a Genin and all the way to Jonin, and to being Hokage for the past four decades before passing his position to Konohamaru who he knew deserved it for all his hard work. The city had the look of Amegakure, fused with that of Kumogakure and a bit of Kirigakure…though a bit more futuristic than he cared to like.

Normally, the old Naruto would have just ran into the city and not care for anything, but that was then when he was still younger and a lot more naive. He had matured a great deal since then and therefore sent a number of his Kage Bushin to recon the city. What he found there was enough to make him feel like he had walked into a horror movie.

There were only men there in the city, and unlike his beloved village of Konoha, there was not a single shred of green anywhere. Even Gaara's home of Sungakure had SOME greenery in it. They place didn't have a green house, no hot springs, no tea houses, none of the stuff he had grown up with and known for all his life was there. It was like he had somehow landed in a completely different land

But the worst things Naruto noted that was lacking in the city of men…there were NO women and to his abject horror… NO RAMEN!

Those things combined were more than enough to force Naruto to try and find some way out of this desert location and find another city to go to. But when he sensed that the cities were a very fair distance away and it would take days to go to them all, he decided to take his time and get more information before he settled in, even though he felt that he was out of his mind to be in a city like that.

…

For the past few days, he sent his Kage Bushin to recon the city and learn all that he could from the people who called this world called Talark home. They apparently were indeed all men as any possibility of finding a woman in this sea of men was the same as trying to tell Tsunade not to drink. And they reproduced using artificial wombs to bring babies into term. That obviously artificial method of having children completely freaked him out and made wonder just where in the world did he land in, he had been there to raise his children with his wives when they gave birth in their own times and he had even been there with them when they gave birth to his children, and he had been there with his children when they gave birth to their own children as well. So the idea of being born without being held by a mother was totally abhorrent to the blonde Hokage, but he kept silent so as to not drag attention to himself in any possible fashion as the last thing he needed was to be labeled as either insane or a security risk by overzealous guys with guns and whatnot.

The next was that they ate food in pills, the very second he tried that, his Kage Bushin as well as him was sickened to the core by the taste, or rather the lack of ANY taste and he was even more depressed by the lack of decent food whatsoever on this world he was in, though he had heard rumors of restaurants on the world that did serve native plant and animal life, but he hardly had time to find these said places.

The rest of the information made him rather wary as well, for one thing, the people of this city world had strict rationing laws for all of their resources and anyone caught spending moiré than the allotted shares made by the government or had wasted resources for no viable benefit were either arrested and sent to prison or sent out into the desert to die.

It was a cruel law to be sure at first glance, but considering the world they were in, it did make common sense since resources in the desert were limited, though Suna didn't have that problem in his mind last time he was there. Another thing was their laws regarding women, this was something made Naruto really disturbed, the men viewed women as monsters who were the ones who used men as slaves and ate their innards, especially their livers. Looking at a woman would rot away a man's eyes and listening to one rotted a man's ears and brain.

It was the biggest load of crap he had ever heard of in his life and it annoyed him to no end that the men of this planet actually took in the lies that their government spoke of towards women.

To be fair, some women were scary at times, and could be monstrous as well, and he should know well, from his various experiences, but they were hardly innards-sucking monsters to say the least. And it annoyed him even further that the men actually never met women before in their lives and only saw women as the enemy.

Another thing he disliked was the caste system in Talark, men who were Third Class were treated like scum and dirt by the other two classes even though they were the ones who worked in the factories and did all the manual labor that kept the entire system running, the Second class were the middle ground and were like the merchants, scientists and the like, while the First Class got the best of everything, education, health care, food, services and more.

It was not something that the former Konoha Hokage liked to see, and it made him angry at times to see how the first two classes of men would treat the other men. No doubt due to his past, he usually had a dislike for those who thought themselves superior to others and had a rapport with the underdogs as he had been one himself in the past. But he disliked it when the Third Class didn't even stand up for themselves, content with their lot in life which to him was a defeatist attitude.

Of course he decided not to make too much noise and eventually settled into the city, learning all that he could. Despite his dislike for the situation he was in, he did have to give the men of this world credit for having endured in the desert for nearly three generations with the conditions that they were in. And while he was not really into studying things, as he disliked it a good deal, Naruto had changed a good deal as well from his old self and that was why he researched as much as he could on why the men were here of all places.

He learned that they had been part of a Colonization Fleet and had been from another world entirely though for reasons unknown to most people in the city or on the world for that matter, no one knew of what happened that led to them fighting the women, some men who were the obvious hardliners stated that it was the women' actions that drove the men to leave them behind and make their own way.

Yet another load of crap in Naruto's mind, but he decided that until he got the full story he was going to keep his trap shut for the time being. He however found their technology interesting, TV sets that were different from his world's own, more advanced sources of electrical power, new types of metal manufacturing, and the works. Ships that flew in the sky than in the ocean were not too new to the former Hokage but ships that went into space was another thing entire, the very second he was able to get into space on a routine repair job as a mechanic in the Third Class, he was awed by the sight of the stars, the darkness of space, the colors…everything.

The next thing that got his attention were the newest weapons in the arsenal of the men of Talark. They were the Vanguards themselves, the giant human shaped war machines that the men prided on making for their war with the women in the future when they would one day take the battle with them in space. They resembled the dolls that were used in Suna in the sense that they were manipulated by people, but instead of being controlled either real string or strings of chakra, they were actually ridden by people into battle through controls and power plants that provided them the power to actually move.

The Vanguards were also armed with the ability to carry various weapons, and have strong armor, could operate in both the surface of worlds and in deep space, could take utility and military roles with ease. They were impressive even to the blonde Sannin, but they were not that impressive compared to the things and beings he had seen in his long life as a ninja and as a Hokage. However he decided that as soon as he was able, he was going to find a way to leave this world of men behind and find what he was sent here to do by his ancestor…his new destiny as he had fulfilled his old one in his own world.

That was why he decided to take one of the Vanguards as his personal unit, he marked it with the symbol of Konoha and managed to get enough time in the training simulations via infiltration and Kage Bushin. There had been some close calls as the security systems in the planet were all new to him and it took some serious work to figure out how to beat them. Once he was able to get the time needed to learn how to operate the Vanguards properly and use them in both travel and in combat, he worked out how he was going to leave this world and find out just what sort of destiny was awaiting him here in this world.

(The sooner I get off this world, then all the better…)

Naruto however wished that the leaders of the male planet would at least get it into their heads that they should work on how to improve their world and their civilization instead of focusing on war, while their factories and the like were remarkably efficient, the way they focused on war was very much a mistake in his mind. But he doubted that he would get any approval from the men so why bother with the whole thing.

…

He finally had the chance to do just that when the word reached him that the Ikazuchi was already going to be taking off in three days that was plenty of time for him to get his things together. He had thankfully kept his scrolls hidden away as well as the basic kunai he had on him as well as the ones which allowed him to use the Flying Thunder God Jutsu of his father, his swords, his wallet, his other clothes, spare scrolls and the like. The Ikazuchi was supposed to be part of a Talark response fleet to deal with the attacks of female pirates from Megere, the home world of the women…and Naruto wagered a guess that it was a planet filled only with females the way Talark was filled only with men.

If his Pervy Sage of a godfather was with him, Jiraiya would be thinking he was in heaven if he got the chance to go there, and no doubt any other man would kill to be alone in a planet full of females…and he had to admit that his perverted side was eager for that chance as well. But he had no doubt the women would see men as the enemy and probably do a lot of painful things to him if he even came there, and even his Sexy No Jutsu was not going to help him for too long.

With that in mind, Naruto finished his packing and bid farewell to Talark in every sense of the word and decided to go out and see the rest of this world and maybe beyond it. Bypassing security when he arrived at the docks was fairly straight forward and soon he was in the Ikazuchi. Once he bypassed the security systems in the former Colony ship which was now the battle ship of the men, he headed to the Vanguards and smiled as he found the Vanguard he marked before and decided to rest here for a bit and grab some shut eye, he decided to reminisce about better days and hope that he could find something to do with the destiny his ancestor spoke of.

…

Unknown to the men of Talark and the blonde Sannin in question, the female pirates had gotten wind of their operation, and were all getting ready to make their move on the Ikazuchi, hoping for a good haul this time around in their latest raid on the men. This was also make sure that the recruits form their world of Megele were seasoned enough on how to do their work as pirates.

However…neither the men nor the women of this universe had ANY idea just who was going to be smashing into their world soon enough.

Here comes Chaos…Naruto Style!

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Now here's an unexpected creation out of the maelstrom that is my over active imaginative brain, a Naruto VanDread Crossover. There have been attempts at this before and while they were good in some ways, I think I can try my hand in making my own version. And Naruto is the main lead here so no Hibiki Tokai, though if you want a variant of this where Hibiki is around, then I'll think that idea over and try it out for myself if the idea is a workable one.

Mind you, this is merely the prologue so it's not going to be updated all that much so I hope that you all don't expect me to be in this for the rest of the day. I however plan to have a small number of chapters for this story since this does have a good deal of promise behind it and I like good potential in any story that comes into my mind.

Now here are some things I want to set straight before I start getting emails and comments.

First, unlike GunDread SEED and the Second Stage version of said story, Naruto does NOT have a Gundam, nor does he travel the universe so he's not all that familiar with the other civilizations out there in the world so he's not as recognized as Kyo was. And in this way, this is the same with Hibiki Tokai from the original VanDread anime.

Of course, you can bet all the money in your wallets that the Vanguard our blonde ninja will be piloting will undergo some seriously interesting changes from the canon version of Hibiki's Vanguard.

Second, he's obviously not from Earth so unlike Kyo, he has no relations to anyone in the soon to be christened Nirvana, nor does he have an earth shattering heritage to go with it. He's going to make his own reputation, believe it!

Third, Naruto does not have amnesia like Kyo does, so he remembers everything about himself and his past just fine. That also includes the truth between men and women as well as the…birds and the bees for obvious reasons as he has already been intimate with women in his life before coming to this universe.

That coupled with Naruto's inner pervert, which we all know has grown since his time with his godfather Jiraiya, his outspoken personality, and bluntness is going to be a shocker for just about everyone on the all female crew, that much is certain, but he's not going to be all bad, they might learn a lot from him since he's been around the block.

How the men will take to him will be interesting to say the very least though…

And Fourth, Naruto has what I have written there, and while the idea of him still summoning Toads is a good idea for some laughs, it's hardly a good idea since it's going to be mostly space battles so the Toad Summons are hardly going to be of any use, though Naruto will find a way. So essentially apart from what I wrote or will write here in terms of equipment and outfits, what Naruto is capable of in the anime and manga is what he has with him on this fic. Though you can bet that his Jutsu is going to really raise some eyebrows in the ship once he starts to use them in any given situation, namely when it comes to dealing with things and people.

As for the pairings…well, you already know me so I think you can wager a fairly accurate guess on where this fic's pairing might be leaning to.

See you all soon, and expect updates for the others stories soon all right?


	2. Maelstrom

VanDread: The Fox

Disclaimer: I don't own VanDread or Naruto, I wish I did though…

Chapter 1

Maelstrom…

( ): Thoughts

…

On the desert world of Talark…

As soon as the latest propaganda film that was approved by the Ministry on Talark was ended, the Prime Minister's speech began as the city was soon bathed in steam as well as lights as row after row of graduates from the military academies of Talark. Behind him and a retinue of higher ranking officers and a detachment of spear wielding Vanguards was the retrofitted colony ship that brought the men to this world, the Ikazuchi, only this time, the ship was now serving as a military vessel and was the flagship for the Talark naval force that was soon to answer the attacks made by the women pirates of Megele.

Among the young recruits was a man who had one side of his face covered by his long mane of black hair, this man in question was none other than Duero McFile and unlike the rest of the fresh faced and eager cadets, he was calm and collected in appearance and attitude for the time being, almost as if he was not concerned with the speech of the Prime Minister.

Another man was also not paying attention and was actually looking sleepy and yawned as well to prove that point, the man was a blonde youth and looked rather out of place for a military cadet. This one was Bart Garsus and was actually part of the military contingent for a far different reason than the rest of the students of the Academy.

As soon as the Speech ended, the Prime Minister shouted out to the men who had cheered at what he had said to them .

"Why must we wait for the designated hour to finally mete out the fist of justice on the women who have long oppressed our people? Why must we wait to take what is our birthright and claim the stars? We shall go NOW!"

The crowds cheered out loudly and soon the cadets were eager to get into deep space to take the fight to the women.

…

However, the men who were running the ship's various systems and engines were stunned at the pronouncement of the Prime Minister. However, they had no time to complain as their senior officers barked out orders to get the ship ready for the early launch. They were soon loaded with the cadets and the command staff of the Prime Minister and as soon as the ship as on lockdown, the engines roared to life.

As the ship's massive thrusters were firing up to push the ship out of the gravitational well, a man who was tilling the harsh Talark landscape with a hoe in what was an obvious attempt to actually grow things on the world. He looked up and smiled a bit and knew that onboard there was someone who was going to help change the future of the world he lived on, to what end was still unknown to him, but one thing was certain, it was going to be interesting.

…

In the large room…

The ship was now currently orbiting over the desert world of Talark and soon was awaiting the arrival of it's escort ships. As the cadets drank their wine and were chatting about their soon to come adventures in defending their world and their soon to come battles with the women, they were also eager to finally get their hands on the newest toys provided with to fight the women.

Duero was busy chatting with some of the men, some mentioning that Duero was actually one of the top graduates in the Academy but had placed on his papers no exact position that he wanted to take while in the Ikazuchi. Many of the men were confused by that but that was cut short by the arrival of Bart.

The man peddled a box of pills that were different from the usual bunch and when he left to talk to the others, the men were curious as to who he was, once his identity was revealed by one of the others, they sighed a bit and made a number of comments on the matter, though Duero remained silent on the whole affair.

It was then that the film portraying the Vanguards was shown to them and while the majority of the men onboard were eager to field the weapons in battle, both Duero and Bart were not all that impressed to say the least.

As the film came to an end, the back of the room where the Prime Minister was speaking parted to reveal a number of the Vanguards that were to serve as the examples for the men and were combat worthy as well…unfortunately for the men, one such Vanguard was marked by a certain symbol and was not alone as the one who marked it was sleeping nearby though this time he was fully awake.

…

Naruto was quickly roused from slumber when he suddenly felt the entire room move and lights were coming on. He wondered just what was going on and when he realized that the room was being lifted up, he knew that something was wrong. Normally the blonde was hard to wake up even with an alarm clock, the only thing that would prevent him from getting to sleep was when something troubled him to the point that sleeping only made the problem worse.

When there was nothing in that level, he was like a dead person to the world, however, his wives did find that there were two ways to wake him up, one was to say that he had a mission to do and he would be up, and the other one, the one that they all knew worked the best since it had no need for them strain their vocal chords in waking up their mutual husband, was to say ramen for breakfast into his ear. The latter was undeniably more effective than the former which was why they took to cooking ramen for him and he loved them even more for that and that was a mutual win situation for all involved.

However, Naruto had developed the habit of waking up on his on power when something was happened around him that was not normal. And this rising room was not normal in his mind. He looked about and quickly got his gear stored away and readied himself just as the wall before him parted and he found himself looking at a large number of male graduates and one irate Prime Minister who was shouting out orders.

(Oh you have got to be kidding me!)

Naruto looked at crowd before him, he had hoped that he was going to be able to find a way to get his Vanguard tucked away at a later date and eventually get himself out of the Ikazuchi. Now it seemed that it was not going to happen the way he hoped it would be. However, this was hardly something that he had to worry about as he got himself ready for the soon to come fight. He might however have to find another way to get his new toy out of the hands of it's soon to be former owners.

But to do that, he had to escape first, though he had no doubt that the guards before him were not going to make that part of his plan easy in any case.

…

"Look!"

"It's one of the Third Class Citizens!"

"How did one of them get into the Ikazuchi?"

Duero was not convinced that the man before them was a member of the Third Class as he looked at the blonde despite having the identification card that was used by the Third Class around his neck. For one thing, there was no way that any Third Class Citizen wore clothes like this man did. He wore was appeared to be some sort of uniform in black and orange with several areas near the forearms, upper arms, calves, and thighs showing what appeared to be armor plating underneath.

The blonde male also had a headband made from black cloth and there was a metal plate there that had a strange symbol etched into the metal itself. The man also wore a vest that was made of green leather and to the man's sharp eye had metallic plating underneath the cloth which meant that it was some form of armor and had a number of pockets as well, and he also had a sleeveless overcoat which was red with black flames on it as well.

The clothes looked to be high quality so there was no way that this man was a Third Class Citizen by any range as they had no way to afford such clothes and armor. The man was also not one would expect from those in the Third Class. He was in the bloom of health and appeared to be around mid to late twenties, something that was odd for the Third Class as they only had basic health care and supplies to go with it.

He had deep blue eyes, a well defined face which was given a more exotic look by the three whisker like marks on his cheeks and blonde hair which was spiky on the stop as well. All in all, the man was actually very good looking as well

If the three guards thought they were going to have an easy time with the Third Class trash they found…they were dead wrong.

The first guard tried to strike hard with a blow to the side, Naruto quickly evaded the attack and lashed out with a strong kick that sent the guard down to his knees, Naruto then leaped onto his back and flipped backwards to avoid a strike to his back from the other guard, while mid flip he grabbed the guard's shoulder and quickly pushed himself into air at high speed, he ducked quickly as the third guard tried to attack, only to miss and have Naruto turn and introduce his left knee into his stomach.

The blonde Sannin and former Hokage turned and lashed out with a hard punch that hit the second guard right in the jaw, sending him out cold while landing a spinning reverse heel kick on the third guard to send him to lala land and striking with a chop to the back of the head on the first guard that tried to hit him while side stepping the first guard's attack. Naruto turned and spotted six more guards armed with clubs and spears this time around. The blonde frowned briefly but then grinned as he reached behind him and pulled out what turned to be a sword of some sort from his back. Naruto had a pair of special sheaths made to hold his swords, they were made from special wood that had chakra to hold the swords in place no matter what happened and keep them sharp, the only way for the swords to be removed was when he held it as the weapons were attuned to his chakra.

The two swords were Ninjato and were very useful to him in his career ever since rising to the rank of Hokage and were the ones made for him by his wife Koyuki as her wedding present to him. They were made to be light but very strong and could have chakra channel through them as well and they had seen Naruto through many battles. One sword was on his back and the other was on his waits though at a diagonal angle and both swords were hidden by his long coat yet were within easy reach.

Duero looked on in surprise as the weapon was a straight single edged sword that was at least two and a half feet long and appeared to be a well made weapon and very well kept too with a small pentagon like hilt guard there along with a two handed grip handle. That told him even more that there was no way this blonde was a Third Class Citizen, the money given to the Third Class was only enough to make them survive with the bare minimum of support and medical care. There was no way any Third Class Citizen could save enough with their wages for a weapon, even if it was an inferior one, and this weapon looked too well kept and maintained.

The first guard stopped a bit as Naruto held his sword in a one handed grip but he charged in, the blonde dodged his wild attacks with his club, then blocked the next one with the back of his sword and slammed a punch into the guard's stomach with his free hand and then cutting the man's weapons into nothing but useless handles, he turns and evades the spear strikes of two men, he then manages to cut the first spear in half at the middle and deflects the next spear while leaped over both men and striking the two men in the back of their legs with the flat side of his sword and strikes both of them in the back of the head with chops from his free hand, sending both guards to unconsciousness.

Naruto then took out his other sword, adopting a dual wielding style that he had learned from his old friend and fellow Jinchuuriki Killer B, as the others attacked en masse, Naruto quickly began to move through the battle, blocking incoming stabs and swings by both clubs and spears while lashing out with kicks, slashes and stabs to force the enemy away while dancing away from attacks that he could not block with his swords because they were occupied. He then leaped over them and then released both swords from his hands and began unleashing a flurry of punches coupled with high speed and powered kicks to stun the guards and he quickly got both swords as they spun back down and cut the guards' weapons once more as the guards fell down to the ground.

Naruto looked and spotted several more guards coming, only this time, they were armed with assault rifles. Naruto quickly realized that now was not a good time to be fighting guys with guns and he quickly placed his swords away, they locked into place and he smiled as the guards came and were about to fire at him, he then threw down a paper ball which exploded into a massive cloud of smoke, surprising the guards as they rushed in to track down the man. However as soon as the smoke cleared and everything was back to full view, the guards and the cadets were surprised to find out that the blonde man was gone.

The guards looked everywhere, even behind Grand Pa's statue and they found nothing at all, there was no sign of the man who had just devastated a number of the guards of the Ikazuchi with seemingly no effort. The men were confused as to where the man had gone until they heard a voice above them.

"Up here!"

Everyone looked up and to their surprise and disbelief, the Third Class Citizen was there…standing upside down on the roof!

"What the?"

"How did he get all the way up there?"

Naruto grinned at them and to their amazement, he began running to the other side of the room while still on the roof, the guards armed with Assault Rifles aimed and fired several rounds at the man, unleashing the sounds of gunfire into the area but the bullets missed the man as he continued to move at a speed that was not possible for someone who was upside down on a roof a good twenty to fifty feet in the air.

The blonde then leaped off the roof and then turned in mid drop the throw something at the guards, all the men heard were several sharp sounds of metal hitting metal and the guards looked to see the barrels of their guns hit by some sort of weapon. The men looked at the blonde male who smirked at them and spoke only one phrase.

"I am out of here!"

With that, he vanished before anyone could react as the guards shouted out and were now chasing the man to catch him.

…

While the other men were gossiping like mad on what they had just witnessed before them, Duero moved quickly and silently as he could to the site of the battle and picked up one of the apparent weapons of the Third Class Citizen…if that man was one to begin with. He studied it carefully and found the weapon to be very interesting. The weapon was yanked out by one of the guards and tossed aside and now that it was ignored, the young man had the chance to study the weapon.

It was a four pointed star with sharpened edges on all four points on either side, and it seemed to be very light weight. This plus it's well made aerodynamic design meant that it was quite effective in the right hands, and seeing as to how the man had used these weapons to jam the barrels of the guards' assault rifles with ease while in flight as well.

Duero turned to the door that blonde had just went through and began to think about what he had witnessed and he smiled a bit.

(This day might not turn out to be boring after all. Who was that man?)

…

In the bridge…

The Prime Minister was in a foul mood when he and his second in command entered the command bridge, what should have been a good show for the planet's latest weapons against the war with the vile women had been turned into a fiasco by the Third Class brat who had the gall to sneak onboard the Ikazuchi and ruin everything. However, what he had witnessed was not entirely bad, but he had a job to do and pressed a switch to activate the ship wide inter-comm. system and barked out his orders to the security personnel.

"Attention to all security personnel, this is the Prime Minister! I want every deck section of the old and new sections of the Ikazuchi searched from top to bottom! Find that brat and make sure to tie him from head to foot and then bring him to me alive so I can kill him myself with my bare hands!"

As soon as that was over, the Prime Minister sighed as he leaned back and spoke

"The whole match was ruined…"

That was when the second in command spoke.

"Prime Minister, are you sure that killing that boy is a good idea? The skills he showed were rather exceptional after all. It would be a waste to kill off such youth and talent."

"I know, but when I have him here before me, I'm going to give him a choice, either serve the Talark Military as his duty to Grand Pa with his skills and teach them to his fellow men, or I will have him tossed out an airlock."

…

In a hallway…

Naruto whistled a bit as he looked at the inter-comm. having heard the announcement of the Prime Minister concerning him.

"Wow, I must have really pissed him off…good; it's high time that windbag got some that hot air out of his brain."

"Hey! It's him!"

Naruto turned lazily to the side to see three of the guards of the Ikazuchi looking at him and carrying guns, he smirked and replied.

"Oh, hi guys."

"Don't hi us you Third Class reject; you're going to come quietly with us to the Prime Minister right now!"

"And if I say no?"

"The Prime Minister said to bring you to him alive, he said nothing about brining you to him beaten up kid, now are you going to come with us quietly or do we have to mess you up?"

"Let me think…oh yeah, here's my answer. You want me…"

Naruto then gave them the universal message to leave him alone, which was the upraised middle finger and turned around quickly and moving to another corridor but not before completing his statement.

"Come and get me!"

Needless to say, the guards who had gotten the finger were FAR from amused, they were seeing red as they vowed to get Naruto, beat him until he begged for mercy and then they were going to drag his beaten carcass to the Prime Minister. As they reached the corridor, they grinned evilly. They knew that the corridor that the blonde had disappeared to was leading to a dead end.

(That guy is going to be….gone?)

The guards were stunned and for good reason, they had expected the blonde to be trapped and ready to be beaten down for his insolence, but he wasn't around.

"What the?"

"Where did he go?"

The guards looked around and tried to find their target, but they were not going to get the chance as the Naruto they had been chasing had disappeared and for good reason, the Naruto they chased was none other than a Kage Bushin.

…

In another corridor…

Naruto grinned as he got the knowledge of the Kage Bushin who had just disappeared and lost it's pursuers and he decided to keep moving and find a way out of the area, he was going to get his Vanguard at a much later date, once the search for him died down.

However, it was then that a series of explosions rocked the ship itself and soon sirens began blaring all over the place. This stopped the blonde cold and he decided to take a gander at a nearby porthole and see just what was going on. The second he saw the slender looking fighters attacking the male fleet, he wagered a guess on who was attacking.

(Looks like the women have made a sneak attack.)

The warning sirens and the calls of the men to go to battle stations was also more than enough to convince the former Hokage that this was a serious attack. No doubt the men were soon going to rally and fight back, and no doubt the Vanguards were going to be deployed, but with the men being trainees and overeager, this was not going to end well for the men.

As much as he was tempted to be able to see women again, the blonde knew that being around women who no doubt do not want to be around men and might kill him on sight was not the best of ideas. Not that he was adverse to the idea of flirting with danger since he used to do that on a regular basis in his younger days, but now was not the best of time for that.

With that in mind, the blonde moved on, knowing that the only concession he was getting from all this was the fact that the men now had other things to focus their attention on. However he did spare a thought on one thing, he was curious how women in the planet of Megele had kids. He knew that only women were able to have children so they had to use some different method of having children without men on their world, otherwise they wouldn't be able to colonize a whole planet, how did they do that?

It was then that a particular thought began to worm it's way into his brain concerning the women of Megele and that was on how they…relieved stress and built up relationships with one another in the romantic and physical sense. The second he had that thought his head, the blonde showed a perverted grin on his face as he realized HOW they might do that.

(Whoa! Not now, we can entertain those thoughts later! First we've got to get out of here before things really out of hand.)

…

Pandemonium was all over the bridge of the Ikazuchi as the men were trying to counter the sudden and unexpected attack. The escort ships were already being hit hard and the Prime Minister was not in the best of moods as the reports came in.

"Damn those women and their vile tactics! They're using our own escort ship's hulls as shields so we can't fire at them without the risks of hitting our fellow men!"

The Second in Command of the Ikazuchi tried to make the orders to have the remaining ships to defend the Ikazuchi's vulnerable spots as the turrets on that side didn't have the speed needed to match up with the nimble Dreads. The women had more technology at their disposal and that was why their Dreads were more agile in combat and could be harder to hit.

The Prime Minister ordered the release of the Vanguard forces, even though his second in command was telling him that all of the pilots they had for the Vanguards were mere trainees with no actual combat experience. The Minister retorted that they would shame their forefathers if they allowed them to be defeated like this if they didn't use their new weapons to combat the women.

…

The announcement came all over the ship as the men rushed to get into their uniforms and get into their Vanguards and fight with the women, never mind the fact that none of them had any actual combat experience in space and against the Dreads of the women. With some of the mechanisms for launching the Vanguards damaged or offline from the initial attacks of the women, the men had to improvise in releasing their machines and soon a large force of Vanguards were unleashed to face off with the women.

However, without the proper experience to help them adapt and with only their fists as weapons, the male pilots were not doing well.

Some had latched on to the Dreads and were attacking them, but they were not able to do much as they had no weapons to speak of.

One Dread pilot commented as she spoke out at the sudden appearance of the Vanguards.

"Eeek! What are these things?" They're in my way!"

One voice however spoke out and seemed to bring the women back into focus on what they had to do.

"Don't worry about the Vanguards! Ignore them and focus on the main ship of the men's fleet!"

"Roger!"

…

Naruto moved through the corridors and tired to find an alternate route to the hanger to get his marked Vanguard back before things got too dicey. SO far, the blonde Hokage's predictions that the attack of the women had diverted the attention of the men away from him proved to be spot on, but he was still wary of possible encounters with the Ikazuchi's security force. He moved through the room and quickly turned to hide from a group of guards running in another direction.

"Halt!"

Naruto turned to look and spotted an egg shaped thing floating before him, he quickly realized that this must be one of those robots he heard about. This model series was supposed to have been repurposed as some sort of sentry.

"Identify yourself!"

Naruto didn't want to do anything rash, after all, it was just a machine doing what it was built to do, but time was not exactly on his side so he tried to reason with the thing, though he had his doubts on the matter being easy to resolve with only words.

"Look shorty, I don't have time to explain those things, nor do I plan to introduce myself, so if you don't mind I have to leave…"

"Subject is an intruder! Switching to restrain mode to capture subject!"

(There goes the neighborhood!)

Naruto quickly leaps away as the floating robot fires a stun bolt at him, as soon as he landed on the ground behind the robot, he quickly takes out one of his unsharpened kunai with the blade covered with hard rubber, it was a none lethal weapon he cooked up to hit a person without killing or wounding them knocking them out with blunt force trauma though he made sure to keep his strength from going to too high.

This attack did it's job as the robot was hit in the back hard and sent flying into a nearby cell, Naruto quickly rushed in and pressed the nearby switch to activate the energy bars to seal the robot in. He moved away as the robot turned and spoke out.

"Subject has resisted! Stronger voltage author….zzzzzttttt!"

BOOM!

Another hit struck the ship and made the ship move to the other side, Naruto managed to hold himself quickly as he used his chakra to anchor his feet to the floor but the robot didn't have that as it was slammed hard into the cage and was now being shocked. The blonde recovered quickly enough, but when he saw the robot squealing in electronic cries of pain, he couldn't find it in himself to abandon the robot even if it was just a machine. He quickly hit the switch and the bars went dead.

He looked at the downed machine and decided to take it along, the machine could be useful and maybe he might finally get to try those programs he had managed to rustle up and modify for himself. He was no tech savvy nut like some of the men who worked in the information centers he had infiltrated more than once while on Talark, but he got by and besides, the robot might be good company, though he rather preferred living companions to mechanical ones.

…

The space battle was still very much in full swing and soon the Dreads were able to make their way into the Ikazuchi, blasting through the hull and diving into several openings made by their weapons. The men quickly sealed up the atmosphere and soon restored gravity into the ship to fight the women. The women came out of their Dreads and were dressed space suits and wore masks designed to look like monsters, no doubt to capitalize on the propaganda portrayal of women by the men.

It was not long before another man shows up and it was none other than Bart Garsus, the young blonde cadet had been hiding ever since the attack had began in the same room that had been vacated by the other cadets the very second they had been given the launch order by the Prime Minister, he was sent free floating into the atmosphere when they deactivated the gravity in the room to launch some of the Vanguards in the same room and had managed to hide inside the statue of Grand Pa.

As soon as he saw the women in their disguises, he panicked and shouted out in fear.

"THOSE THINGS ARE WOMEN?"

He turned around as another Dread came barreling into the room and he quickly panicked again and hide once more in the statue, which was soon decapitated by the Dread and Bart's head popped out from the now headless statue like a twisted version of a jack in the box.

In the Dread itself, the pilot was not doing well as she cried out in panic.

"I can't stop!"

She accidentally fires her Dread's weapons and those said blasts are heading right into the wall which led to the reactor of the ship.

…

Naruto found himself in a massive room and one seriously huge glowing sphere with lines of power around it. He decided to keep moving as he knew that this was going to be his best chance of finding that marked Vanguard and getting out of this ship as the continuing sounds of fighting was not a good sign in his mind. But as he was crossing the half way mark to the other side, something stopped him.

It felt like a voice of some sort trying to reach him, and for a moment, the blonde Sannin wondered if he was hearing things or a ghost was nearby, he looked about and then wondered why it seemed that the voice was actually coming from the massive sphere before him.

(Okay, this is just plain creepy…that thing is supposed to be a power supply or something, it's not like the things I've seen back home,)

But just as Naruto was about to chalk it up as a figment of his imagination, his danger senses kicked into overdrive and he turned to see the walls glow, signs of an explosion and the blonde tried to move away from the coming explosion, but it was too late as he was knocked aside.

…

Meanwhile, the ship was soon rocked by another set of explosions, but this was not due to another attack by the women this time around, the Prime Minister had just activated the explosive separation charges. The Prime Minister decided to separate the new section of the Ikazuchi from the old section to keep the new section of the Ikazuchi from falling into the hands of the pirates. The second in command tried to reason with the man but it was too late as the switch had been activated.

The sight of the old section being separated from the new had a dismaying effect on the young cadets who were still in the old section. However, Duero was not too badly bothered by what he was seeing as he knew that for all their talk of bravery and honor, the leaders were the real cowards and liars.

…

In the reactor room…

(Ow…that was not what I was expecting.)

Naruto felt his body begin to respond to his brain as he decided to move his hands a bit as he realized that something was on top of him.

The very second Naruto reached out with his hand to move away what was on top of him, he touched something that was soft, warm , and squishy. The blonde briefly wondered just what he touched, but the second he touched a bit more and moved his hand, as well as hearing the moan that followed, he recognized it.

(I'm touching a woman's…this better not be a dream or I swear I am going to really pissed off!)

Naruto opened his eyes and saw a being on top of him with a weird monster like mask but he knew that it was a woman on top of him, not some monster, most men of Talark would have been frightened by what they would see, but not the blonde, he had seen far worse disguises in his day, and truth be told, the women's use of masks and body suits to hide their appearance and fool the men into being afraid of their supposed, monster visage was fairly normal.

He quickly however moved away and managed to rein in his mind's sudden burst of happiness and perverted ideas. He didn't blame his body's reaction at all, and for good reason as it had been hard being on a world of men for six months.

Of course, his previous experiences with girls, namely his wife Sakura when they were younger told him that getting frisky with a woman without her express permission was an open invitation for a serious slap, or a serious beating, neither of which was promising to the blonde Sannin as he was now looking at the disguised female.

The Megele Dread pilot, one Dita Liebely by name was utterly happy and eager to look at the actual alien before her. She quickly removed her helmet as well as get her tiara free from the lower part of her suit and soon spoke to the blonde and blue eyed male before her.

"Wow! A real live alien!"

Naruto on the other hand was admiring the now revealed girl, being deprived of female companionship in every sense of the word for six long months made him very eager to devour just about every detail he could see on this woman.

(Deep blood red hair all the way to her legs and with two lush tails on the sides of her head, heart shaped face, nice lips, and blue eyes. Damn…she's VERY cute.)

As for Dita, she marveled as she looked at Naruto, she had heard the stories her fellow women said about men, they said that they were ugly, inferior and all that. But she was not really caring for those stories, Dita was a very open minded girl and she wanted to meet men as she saw them as aliens. And this alien before her was VERY interesting.

His eyes were deep blue, deep and slightly glowing somewhat, but they were not terrifying to the redhead, in fact those slightly glowing blue eyes were cool looking in her mind, it made her even more intrigued by her first alien contact. She also noted the odd whisker like marks on his face, there were three of them on either cheek. They didn't look bad to her, they just added to the overall picture of a very interesting alien in her mind.

She decided to try and establish first contact by moving her hand in a few gestures.

Naruto wondered just what the cute redhead was trying and decided to amuse her by repeating the exact actions she was taking and see what the results of his reply to her gestures was going to be. Once he did that, the redhead smiled even more and became livelier than ever.

"It worked! I did it! I made First Contact!"

Naruto had no idea what she was going on about, but he decided that he needed to get going, there was no telling if and when the other women from Megele were coming and while this girl before him was not one of the man hating kind, he knew better than to stick around for one if not all of the women who were the man hating kind would find him since he had no idea what they might do to him when they caught him.

With that in mind, he decided to get up and get moving, he checked his person to see if everything was there and when he was sure that everything was there and he then picked up the robot, he turned and smirked a bit at the redhead.

"As much as I'd like to entertain you, I have to get going, and I am not an alien, I'm as human as you are…just a bit different than most."

Naruto got ready and moved away, hoping to get enough distance between him and the girl which was not going to be too hard even though he kept his speed normal as he sensed no immediate danger around him just yet. Dita however was not keen on losing sight of her first alien contact and shouted out as she tried loosen herself free of her suit to reveal herself wearing a tank top, short length boots, a long sleeved short jacket and mini-skirt.

"Wait! I want to take a picture!"

Unknown to either of them, the reactor known as the Paeksis was glowing as if sensing the two of them…

…

Meanwhile, the men were not in the best of moods as they were all being herded away as they had been forced to surrender to the women who had finally secured the ship. They were soon being herded to the Ikazuchi's escape pods, along with them was a certain Talark First Class graduate. Duero looked about and wondered just what was going to happen, though his attention went to the women. They certainly were different looking than in the films the Ministry usually showed to him and his fellow men.

For one thing, despite the difference in the chest region as well as facial features, skin tones and the like, they looked human to him.

"I know this stuff is a disinfectant, but even so, I still can't stand the smell."

One of the women said as she removed her suit's helmet and began to remove her suit as well. This woman was none other than Jura Basil Elden, she served as the second in command of the Dread Squadrons. She was a statuesque blonde woman with her lush blonde hair reaching up to the back of her posterior, deep emerald green eyes, a well formed face, and deep red lips. She had the face of a model and the figure of one as well as she had all the curves and swells in the right places that a woman should have them, plus her bust was very well formed and natural in the way they moved when she finally removed her suit.

Jura had on a dress which was rather revealing to say the least as it had an open front that was up to her navel that showed the inner areas of her breasts with the parts of said dress that covered her bust held by a metallic ring. The dress was a dark violet style dress with slits on either side of the long skirt held at a type of comfortable collar with rather thin leather straps there as well. She had a set of sleeves which were held by several soft brown leather straps that were comfortable to her skin, as well as a pair of comfortable ankle length boots. She also had a rapier on her side and seemed to know how to carry it.

The next to remove her helmet was an aqua haired woman who had some sort of circlet there with her that was covering the left side of her face. She had her hair in a short boyish style and wore something that was similar to a flight suit which was in white and black that allowed any observer to see her curves and swells. However Meia was not the kind to be mistaken for a regular girl, she was the ace pilot of the Dread Squadrons of the pirates and despite the fact that she was only a year younger than Jura, she was the undisputed leader of the Dread Squadrons as well.

She looked about and asked around to her fellow women who were in the room overseeing the removal of the men while also tending to those who were injured in the initial attack on the Ikazuchi.

"Has anyone seen Dita?"

"I have seen her, the last I saw of her she was barreling down the corridor and crashing through that bulkhead wall over…ow!"

The woman in question was an emerald haired and violet eyed beauty by the name of Barnette Orangello, she was also a Dread pilot like the other two women as well as the redhead in question. She wore a swimsuit like uniform that showed the upper portions of her breasts while covering them at the same time, along with showing her back, she also had thigh length boots and her outfit was in dark and light violet colors. She had some sort of decorative hairpin on her hair and wore long gloves that were up to half of her arm though one glove was off.

She had been wounded by a Talark bullet round during the attack and was currently being treated by a young girl who was dressed in something that resembled a French Maid outfit, on a fully grown woman at a young age, this would have been rather tempting, even more so if said woman was like either Barnette or Jura, but the wearer of said uniform was actually an eleven year old girl with her hair in two large odangos.

"Sorry about that."

"Careful Paiway, my skin is very delicate you know!"

"Just try to endure it."

Barnette didn't like that and was not happy with the fact that her once perfect skin was now marred.

"Nurses are supposed to be more gentle and understanding towards their patients."

"I'm trying you know!"

Paiway Underberg was the pirate's official nurse despite the fact that by most technical laws, she was too young to hold such a position. This was obvious to Duero who had observed the situation and while he saw that she had promise, she didn't have the medical training and experience to be fully fledged healer.

However, he had little time to think about that as he was being guided along with his fellow men to the escape pods, however, he had an idea and decided to move away to a nearby locker area in the room they were in at the moment.

As Meia looked about to find her fellow Dread pilot, Jura looked about the room and was noit the least bit impressed with what she saw.

"I went along with the group since they said this was going to be a good haul, but all of this just turns out to be nothing but junk."

Meia then found the access area and knew that she now had the chance to go and find her young subordinate, but she knew that having some backup was a good idea.

"Jura, I'm going to go and look for Dita, I need you come with me to help make the search easier."

The blonde sighed a bit and replied.

"This is the reason why I didn't like the idea of bringing a trainee."

Meia managed to keep her thoughts cool but she made it clear to Jura that now was not the time to complain.

"We're shorthanded as it is since this was supposed to be a training mission for the new recruits in the force and the veterans were taking a break, if you didn't want to come along, you should have said so back in the base."

The blonde sighed and got to follow her leader.

"All right, I'm coming, but I've got a feeling that Dita's doing something that she's not supposed to be doing."

…

In a sub bridge, three other women were busy doing their own work. One was Ezra Viviel, a kind looking woman who was dressed in an outfit that was like the kind seen on a housewife. She was such that the idea of her carrying a laser rifle was plain wrong and she was rather attractive as well. The next woman was a bespectacled young girl who had her thick brown hair in two thick pigtails and wore the uniform that one would associate with an engineer and had the demeanor of one as well. Her name was Parfet Balblair and she was head of the engineering group of the pirates and was there to give her mechanical and electronic expertise to the group.

The last one of the trio was a tall woman who had dark skin, silver hair and wore what appeared to be a futuristic version of an Arabian harem girl outfit. The woman was very good looking and would have attracted the attention of any man. But she had the aura of a skilled fighter and a no nonsense attitude as well as a high understanding of military tactics, plus the body of a fighter. These things suited her well as she was the second in command of the pirates and her name was Buzam A Calessa or just BC to those who knew her.

The commander was quick top begin accessing the database once she and the other two were in what appeared to be a sub bridge of some sort. Ezra looked over the data but was unable to understand anything as it was in the Talark language.

"Oh my, I can't understand anything written in the men's language!"

Parfet grinned and replied as she pulled out a device that got Ezra's attention and the woman spoke to her younger companion.

"What's that thing Parfet?"

"It's my Inter-pricko device! I made to translate any new language we encounter to our own so we can understand it, I made one for this chance. I can even make another one for the Commander…"

However, much to Parfet's surprise, the silver haired woman seemed to be doing just fine when it concerned the data of the men in their language as she spoke.

"Meia, give me a status report on the men who we've rounded up."

Meia's voice spoke out as well in answer.

"We've herded most of them to the escape pods and they are locked down at the moment Commander."

"Good, dump them now, we'll let the men take their own alive."

Parfet was stunned at that as she spoke.

"You can read the language of the men?"

Ezra smiled at that.

"That's the elite for you Parfet."

The head engineer pouted in disappointment at that discovery.

"Darn! And I worked hard in making this too!"

…

Naruto was moving along, still trying to get to the other side and hope that he would find his Vanguard, he had managed to learn that this was the best path back to where his Vanguard was stationed and as such, he took this route than any other. It would have been easier but he was not alone as a certain redhead was still following him.

"Wait up Mr. Alien!"

Naruto turned and couldn't help but smirk a bit as he spotted the redhead.

(Got to admit one thing, she's persistent.)

"Don't you have anything better to do, places to go, or something…wait what's your name anyhow?"

"My name is Dita! Dita Liebely! Can't we at least have a little chat first?"

Naruto smiled as he looked at the young woman who was still following him and replied.

"Now isn't the right time for that sort of thing Dita, I've got to go."

"Please?"

Despite the fact she was still a few ways from him, Naruto could tell that she was giving him the sad puppy dog eyes bit and it was tempting to him to give in to the idea, but his practical side told him otherwise. Besides that, there was another side of him which was telling to do something other than chatting with the cute redhead…

(Hold it together! Just my luck….six months away from women and now my randy self wants to do that in the middle of a ship in space…man I really need to keep my focus!)

…

Meanwhile on the ship of the men…

The Prime Minster was in a very dark mood as he looked at the image of the old Ikazuchi section which was soon being approached by the pirate vessel. The chance to bring glory and honor to the men of his world and to himself was ruined by those vile females. And now it seemed that they were going to pillage the Ikazuchi's old section. That fact made his blood boil even more as he was listening in on the incoming reports of the pods being released.

The Prime Minister ignored the words of the second in command on trying to find a peaceful solution to this mess and gave the order to unleash another of their super weapons.

"Ready the Murumase Torpedoes, target the old section!"

"What? Are you seriously considering destroying the old section Minister?"

(I will rather have it destroyed by my hands than let those filthy women desecrate it even more!)

…

Duero finally managed to mend the last bandage on the arm of his last female patient who was none other than Barnette herself as he made sure that she was not going to have a mark at all when the wound healed. The young man had earlier broken away to retrieve a coat from one of the lockers there, his actions had nearly gotten him in trouble with one of the women armed with a laser rifle. But he mentioned that he was a doctor and he wasn't lying as he was highly qualified in the Talark medical course in the Academy.

This had allowed him to stay and help the women though he had no doubt that the women were not too happy with a man healing them. This had allowed him to study them even more and his last patient was the last he had to study.

"Interesting…"

Barnette did not like that as she spoke out.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that? Do you find something interesting about me?"

Duero smirked at that and replied.

"I do actually."

"Don't expect me to thank you."

"I don't, I think it's my time to leave."

Paiway recorded the whole thing and spoke as she looked at Duero.

"He touched a total of five girls."

However, things got to be rather interesting as the ship was suddenly rocking about.

…

When the pirates found out that the men were aiming a missile at them, they tried to find a way to move the Ikazuchi, but the engines were offline and there was nothing Parfet could do about it, with that problem in hand, the elderly leader of the pirates who was on their ship gave the order to evacuate even though they were going to lose this catch of theirs.

Magno had been the founder of the pirates and had a century of experience that was valuable to the women in many ways and she treated them all more like daughters than followers, which was why she didn't hesitate to order them out of the ship before the missile was fired. Buzam nodded and sent the order to Meia, who responded that she had lost Dita and would join up with them along with Jura once they found the wayward Dread pilot apprentice.

However, it was not long before the men fired the torpedoes at the ships.

The Prime Minister had ordered the missiles fired as they in his mind had more than enough fuel and soon they were on their way. The Pirate cruiser which was previously trying to stop the men from firing the weapons at them with their ship's own beam weapons now found themselves with an even bigger problem.

The Pirate cruiser had just docked and attempted to fire at the torpedoes in the hope of destroying them while evacuating the crew, but with the missiles somehow coated with some sort of energy resistant alloy and being too small to hit with their weapons, that proved to be a bad idea.

…

In the reactor room…

"DITA!"

Meia and Jura were looking down as they spotted Dita pursuing Naruto and while it seemed that the man the redhead was following was being….calm about this, the two were not happy, or at least Meia was as Jura spoke in an amused tone.

"See what I meant before Meia, she's chasing a man of all things."

The two wasted no time and were soon after the redhead and it was not long before they were able to catch up with Dita as Naruto had to climb over some debris. But as soon as they reached the redhead and Meia was about to scold her, the blonde male turned around and spoke to them.

"Well now, company's arrived I see. Nice looking company too."

That was enough to force Meia aim her laser ring at the blonde while making sure that she was between him and her two companions.

"Hold it, one wrong move and I'll shoot!"

…

Naruto gave both Meia and Jura as well as Dita very appreciative looks and he grinned warmly, three beautiful honest to Kami females before him at last, a very cute red head, one tough looking but undeniably sexy aqua haired girl, and one gorgeous blonde who would have been a bombshell back home. If all three of them were to walk in Konoha, he would have no doubt that every man, young and old, civilian or ninja would have been trying everything to get to know them and it was not just for the sake of talking to them either.

(Now this is a sight worth looking at…shame that I have to go.)

Meia did not understand why was it that even though she had her laser ring at him in a posture of attack, he didn't seem the least bit bothered by that fact and this confused the blue haired girl, and it was not long before she snapped at the smirking blonde male.

"What are you looking at?"

Naruto gave her a confused look and replied.

"What? I'm just admiring you three ladies, your red haired friend's very cute and she has an innocent and kind aura around her and I find that very nice. You've got the 'I can kill you without any problem and still look good doing it' look going for you and that has it's own attractive qualities. And your blonde friend…I mean…wow! She's as gorgeous as a fashion model, even more so with the sword and the dress, she's definitely a blonde beauty for sure!"

Jura was utterly confused by what just happened as the blonde male gave her a very warm grin.

(Did that man actually…compliment me?)

Meia was completely confused by this…male; he was NOT acting like any of the men that she and the others had dealt with earlier. She was used to many situations in her long career as a pirate and leader of the Dread Squadrons, but this was one situation that she had no experience in. Instead of being scared of her and her fellow women, and not wanting to do anything around them…this male was actually…admiring them, he even considered them attractive!

(What is going on here? Who is this man?)

Naruto was enjoying this as he looked over the three Dread pilots, making sure to remember every detail of their appearance and build. He was not kidding with what he said to Dita, Meia, and Jura either.

The redhead was an innocent and yet had a body build that was very attractive, especially with the way she was dressed, tank top that hugged a very nice bust which was right for her frame and build, long sleeved short jacket, soft boots and skirt that showed some very nicely shaped legs.

The aqua haired woman had a very serious look yet she also had beauty in her face as well as her body, the suit showed her very much athletic build which showed a woman who was well toned and trained, in itself attractive and the odd looking circlet she had didn't detract her beauty at all, just made her look more exotic, and after his life being married, he liked the exotic look every now and then.

As for the blonde with them…well, she was undeniably hot in the mind of the blonde ninja, she's got a figure that would have made any man worth his manhood get hot under the collar, her bust looked real nice they moved naturally as he looked at

Once again, the blonde Sannin and former Hokage thought to himself about how the men of Talark saw women and reinforced his belief that they had NO idea what they were mission.

Naruto however knew that now was not the time and reluctantly stopped his study of the three women and spoke.

"You know, as much as I'm enjoying this moment, it's time for me to leave and you as well, so I think now is a very good time to part ways. Bye!"

With that Naruto turned around and left, leaving the three Dread pilots alone, Dita however was not planning to let Naruto leave just like that as she moved to follow the blonde male.

"Mr. Alien, wait up! I still need to chat with you!"

However, she was stopped by Meia who managed to recover from the rather odd meeting with the blonde male and realized that he had a point.

"There is no time! We have to leave now!"

Dita nodded and soon followed Meia though she gave a sad glance to Naruto who was already on the move to his own Vanguard to get out of the area quickly before the men decided to turn the old Ikazuchi into nothing ruined metal and debris. Jura decided to follow but as she looked at Naruto who was now moving away, she had to admit that she had given him a studying look earlier.

(For a man, he's not bad looking, he's got very intense blue eyes, and those whisker marks make him look rather…wait a minute! Why am I thinking about him like that? I hate men, even if they compliment my beauty.)

The blonde shook her head of such unladylike thoughts and joined the others as they were soon in their Dreads and ready to fly out of the place before everything went down the drain. Meia contacted Buzam that the team was together and they were now going to escape as Buzam and the others were now in the pirate ship.

…

However, just as it seemed that the three Dread pilots were going to escape, one of them ran into a bit of a problem.

When she had barreled through the Ikazuchi in her entry attack earlier, Dita had inadvertently fired her Dread's weapons and created two holes in the walls, these same holes had expanded somewhat when her Dread hit the wall, and now they were holding the Dread fast.

Dita realized that quickly and was trying her best to get her Dread free but it seemed that the wall was holding her fast.

"Oh no! My Dread is stuck! I can't break free!"

Naruto was quick to notice the problem and was on his way to remedy the situation as he changed direction and rushed to the Dread at high speed, which was seen by Dita who was surprised by Naruto's sudden action to come towards her. It was not long before he arrived to the area where Dita's Dread was still trapped.

Naruto quickly made the seals to use his trademark Jutsu since he knew that he was going to have to make this quick before this entire ship would go down into atoms. Most men of Talark would have just left the young redhead to die as she was an enemy. And in most cases, Naruto should not be bothering with this kind of situation. But Naruto was not the kind of person to let innocent people suffer, and the cute redhead certainly qualified as an innocent person.

"Kage Bushin No Jutsu!"

In several bursts of smoke Naruto summoned three Kage Bushin to aid him, as soon as the Kage Bushin were present, he quickly gave several hand gestures to them. They nodded as they all took out one of their swords and the four ninja summoned the Wind Elemental Chakra into the swords, making them glow deep blue in a moment. Naruto smiled as the energy was enough and both he and a Kage Bushin were near one of the front sections of the Dread then a pair of them moved to the other side of Dita's Dread and then all four of them cut into the metal.

The Wind Element Chakra enhanced blades cut through the metal with ease as Naruto's control over his chakra had improved considerably since his rise in the ranks. As he and his Kage Bushin were finished cutting the metal, they quickly kicked away the sliced off metal, effectively freeing the Dread and the young girl, the two other Kage Bushin joined the original and their companion and they placed their sword back in their sheath, the three Kage Bushin then disappeared in clouds of smoke and that left the original Naruto to give the redhead a warm smile as he spoke.

"Okay, you're free to go!"

Dita was utterly wide eyed at the show of power that the alien had shown before her, he had made copies of himself and somehow made his sword and those of his other copies to glow and cut through metal. She smiled happily and knew that she had really found herself a really cool alien and a kind hearted one too!

She spoke out through the Dread's communicators to Naruto.

"WOW! That was so COOL! You're a really nice alien!"

Naruto sighed and nodded as he moved away, happy that he had freed the young innocent redhead from harm. Now he headed to his Vanguard and get moving out of the Ikazuchi, his danger senses were already telling him to vacate the area and he trusted his danger senses a great deal. As soon as he got into the Vanguard, he began to power up the systems and soon the machine was at full power. He grabbed the controls and began to move the Vanguard out of it's reclining position.

Both Jura and Meia had not been close enough to see Naruto free Dita's Dread so they were in the dark about the powers that Naruto had just shown to their much younger comrade. They were very happy that their comrade was free and soon they were all going out of the Ikazuchi as best they could, just as Naruto's marked Vanguard was now on it's feet and joining them in escaping.

However, they were few moments too late as the missiles were now too close for them to get out in time, and the same could be said for the pirates.

…

In the Pirate cruiser…

"Missile Impact in twenty five seconds! We can't avoid a direct hit!"

Magno spoke to that.

"Hit or Miss, it's our destiny."

…

In the reactor however, the Paeksis suddenly glowed brightly and soon flashed out in a blast of pure light. This was not lost to Naruto as he suddenly sensed the energy coming from the Paeksis as it hit his chakra senses alerting the blonde that something was happening.

(What the heck?)

It was then that the missiles hit hard, just as the Paeksis unleashed a wave of energy all over the ship itself internally.

…

BOOM!

…

In the bridge of the new section.

"Minister! Scans indicate that we're losing mass, the Ikazuchi and the Megele ship's signatures are nowhere to be found!"

"I hope you pirates enjoy the embrace of death and the taste of defeat."

…

Inside a sea of pure glowing blue-green light, Naruto wondered just was happening but he looked to see that he was not alone as a massive figure that looked like a machine appeared before him.

"What is that?"

He then felt like he was falling and turned to see that he was not alone as there was the egg shaped robot with him and the three women as well, all of them crying out as they all fell, Naruto on the other hand felt something else entirely as Dita cried out towards Naruto.

"MR. ALIEN!"

Inside of the blonde Hokage and Sannin however, another voice spoke out.

((Hmm…this is odd, it's been some time now, but I feel something calling out.))

…

To be continued…

…

Author's notes:

Well, this wraps up the first chapter of this Naruto VanDread and it's not too bad I hope for the first of a handful of chapters that I will add to this before I dive back to G I Joe Halo is it's newest chapters are already in production as well as Naruto Dragon Champion. With that said, I hope that this will be enough to get things rolling. If there is anything wrong with the story, feel free to tell me and I'll locate the problem and fix that at a later date.

Now as you can see, Naruto is not Hibiki so he's a lot different than the original lead in the VanDread anime so expect things to be rather different from what you happen to be used to in the first anime. Naruto has not lost his edge nor his skills though he only uses a small amount of his abilities.

I do plan to have him use the majority of what he has learned and used in both the anime and the manga as well as some choice elements from the games that can be used in the story. This way you can bet that Naruto has indeed grown in strength and ability though he will still be something of a goofball and naturally a pervert.

As you might have read, he's not shy about saying what he thinks and feels, he's more vocal than even Hibiki and can back up his words with action when the need for such action is called for, but he's still a mature person as he will know when he has to be serious and focused. And his encounter with the three Dread pilots is a lot different from Hibiki's meeting with the three Dread pilots, so you can bet that his interactions with them will be rather different.

The reactions of Jura and Meia are merely the beginning as soon as Naruto gets to join the crew, and you can bet that when he reveals a fraction of his abilities, the women are going to quickly find out that he is not the same as the men they know who are from Talark. And when he reveals his…perverted side which he is not afraid to show, obviously a trait he inherits from you know who, things are going to get hectic.

As for his Sexy Jutsu, I think I can find a use for that soon enough.

On the Vanguard that Naruto will be piloting, it will have some unique features and other traits that will be based on Naruto himself to expect some very interesting changes from the Vanguard that Hibiki piloted in the original anime. As for the meeting that occurs in the room between the men and women, here's a little taste of it.

…

Trailer:

"You're not from Talark?"

The blonde ninja nodded replied to that question in his usual fashion.

"No I'm not, if I was one and I actually believed all the crap and lies those idiots in their government fill their ears and eyes with every day about women like you and your lovely crew members in this very room, I'd be like Mr. Piss-Pants over here when you said that line."

Naruto said as he pointed his thumbs at Bart, who naturally was shocked and a little offended by Naruto's blunt comment.

"Hey!"

…

At any rate, I'll see to the next chapter so if you have any questions, critiques, and comments, you know the drill already.

Bye!


	3. Meetings and Battles

VanDread: The Fox

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Naruto or VanDread…

Chapter 2

Meetings and Battles…

( ): Thoughts

…

In an unknown location in the vastness of space…

The silence and serenity of space was suddenly broken as a massive blast of energy occurred and out came two massive ships into the once empty void of space. One ship was the old section of the converted colony ship, the Ikazuchi, while the other was the pirate cruiser of the Megele pirate forces.

Inside the bridge of the female ship, the Captain, one Magno Vivian shook her head a bit while holding on it as well, trying to no doubt shake the effects of the sudden blast of light that had blinded her. As soon as she recovered her senses, she looked about and saw that her ship was not turned into a ruin and her bridge crew were very much alive and safe.

"This is certainly is not the afterlife, where are we and what the heck just happened?"

Before the bridge crew could respond to the situation before them, they were suddenly stopped by a collision on the top of their ship, as soon as they looked up, they were all surprised when they saw a massive growth of crystal hitting their ship and dragging them towards the Ikazuchi.

Magno commented on that in a very accurate manner.

"What the heck is going on? Is the crystal trying to swallow the ship?"

…

In the now crystal covered room…

Meia was the first to recover and she reached out to try and feel if she was still alive, all she remembered seeing was a sea of blue green light that moved almost in the same way like an ocean of sorts. She saw Jura and Dita there, along with that blonde male and wondered just what had happened.

She quickly managed to get herself to s sitting position and even though she was feeling a bit light headed and spoke out to find the others, who she hoped were still alive and safe despite what had just happened.

"Jura! Dita!"

She turned saw that Jura was now moving, she was relieved that the blonde Dread pilot was alive and in good hands and spoke to her.

"Jura, are you all right?"

The blonde sat up and rubbed her head a bit and was happy to find her senses coming back rather quickly and she was quick to reply to the question directed to her by her commanding officer and fellow female.

"I'm fine, just a bit surprised, what the heck just happened?"

"I don't know…where's Dita?"

"Over here!"

Meia turned and gave out a sigh of relief to see the young redhead alive and seemingly unharmed, which in itself was a miracle considering what had just happened to them. The redhead was in awe as she spoke out to try and explain what she had just experienced only moments before.

"Something beep then VROOOM! And I don't know what happened…Alien powers are SO amazing!"

Meia looked about still, trying to find anything that would help her identify where they were, and soon enough she realized that they were still in the very same room they had been in before when they had boarded the Ikazuchi, though now most of the ship was covered in crystals, she looked a bit more and spotted the man from before.

…

Magno looked about and saw through images that the crystal was gathering all the debris around it and fusing it into itself and doing the very same thing with their own ship as well and she quickly contacted the three officers of the pirates who were critical to the operation of the pirate cruiser. Two of them were naturally her commander Buzam and her chief engineer Parfet and the news they gave was not good, the ship's engines were dead and the crystal was spreading throughout the ship.

She contacted her group's chief supply officer who went by the name of Gascogne Rheingau next to see if there was a way to stop the crystal and separate the ship.

"Gascogne is there any way you can cut the ship loose from the crystal?"

"I'm afraid not, lasers, and fusion cutters can't seem to dent the thing, and if we don't move out of here, this place is going to be swallowed up as well."

Magno thought that over and realized that the only way they were going to find a viable solution to freeing their ship was to go to the source itself.

"All right then, I guess the only way to get to the bottom of what is happening here is to go to the source, BC, Parfet, I need you to come with me to the colony ship."

"Roger!"

…

One of the shuttles of the pirates took off from the cruiser and made a beeline to where the Paeksis was located and soon as it entered, Magno along with the two officers and a group of the ship's security personnel were in the ship. The elderly pirate captain looked about and couldn't help but be amazed at the sight.

"This is amazing, never thought I'd actually be alive to see this of all things."

As she walked down, she was greeted by Meia and Dita as well as Jura, with the aqua haired girl speaking to the captain.

"I'm really sorry for this Captain; you had to come all the way here."

Magno shook her head and replied.

"You don't need to apologize; I wanted to see this with my own eyes after all."

As she looked about she then spotted Naruto there on the ground as if asleep and the small robot next to him.

Meia spoke then.

"That's the man Dita was chasing when we found her."

Magno looked at Naruto carefully and spoke out.

"It's been some time since I looked at a man's face, but I have to admit that this man's certainly…different. I've never seen this style of dress before and certainly never heard of birthmarks resembling whiskers no less. Still, he's not bad looking either, anyway, we should take him to a place to lock him up until we decide what to do with him."

Unknown to the women in question…a pair of eyes were watching them and a ghost of a smirk was there as well.

…

In the brig…

Naruto woke up and looked to see himself in the same room as where he had found the floating robot from before and sighed a bit.

"Great, I got captured, just my…show yourself man, no time to be hiding of all things."

The blonde turned to look at none other Duero McFile who looked at the blonde male who had displayed a great deal of skill and unheard of abilities earlier in the ceremony before the attack of the female pirates. The long haired male looked at the blonde Shinobi and spoke out to him.

"You noticed me well enough though being hidden was not my intention, my name is Duero, Duero McFile."

Naruto looked at Duero and smiled back in reply.

"Naruto, Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki."

Duero filed that name away in his mind for future reference and then directed his attention to the man before him, trying to see if he was armed still. After being assured temporarily that the blonde male was not armed, he spoke to him.

"You were the one who caused quite the mess in the ceremony earlier before the women attacked, how did you manage to get past the security and also fight the guards the way you did?"

The blonde knew that telling his secret now was not the best of ideas, but he could at least embellish the truth somewhat.

"I figured out how the security works and how to beat it, as to how I was able to do those things, that I'm afraid is going to remain my secret."

"I see…most of my fellow cadets thought you were a Third Class citizen, I do not, and I have a feeling that there is more to you Naruto, so how or rather why were you onboard the Ikazuchi in the first place?"

Before Naruto could reply he noted that the robot he had found earlier moved and soon popped out legs and arms and began to show eyes on the monitor that served as the…face and spoke out.

"Where am I? Who am I?"

Naruto smirked a good deal and spoke out.

"Nice to see you alive and well, so to speak, you certainly changed the last time I saw you."

"Huh?"

…

The pirates were busy trying to figure out just what they were going to do with the fact that the crystal was transforming both the Ikazuchi and their own cruiser and seemingly fusing them together. Parfet tried every strategy she knew to figure out what was happening, but even the plucky head engineer was reaching the end of her rope as she tried to figure out the Paeksis even more.

As for the others, they were also trying their best to make some headway in keeping the crystal from taking over the rest of the ship. Gascogne herself was busy trying to help keep the Register from being swallowed by the Paeksis and devoted her attention to it while telling anyone to call her by her real name and not Gasco which she detested for reasons that were her own.

…

Later…

It was not long before both Naruto and Duero were retrieved by Buzam and a pair of security personnel from the pirates. Naruto raised his eyebrows at the two girls and smirked a bit, finding them to be rather interesting to look at though he managed to keep a grip on his body's reactions. He did however note that something was off about the dark skinned woman who was before him and Duero.

He decided to remain silent for now as they moved to be interrogated though he had to admit that he was staring at the way the woman's posterior was moving. He slapped himself mentally to knock that stuff off reminded himself to keep his mind on what was going on before him. But that was hardly easy as after being stuck on the male planet for half a year, he was dying to know how the women lived on their side of the proverbial lake.

As soon as they arrived in a room, Naruto noted that the aqua haired girl he had met before arrived and brought another male with them.

The new arrival was none other than Bart Garsus and the second the blonde Sannin and former Hokage looked at the cadet, he could tell that this guy was not a warrior. Naruto had developed the skill of studying most people at first glance and what he could see from Bart told him that this guy was by no means a fighter, so he must have been brought here to the Ikazuchi for a different set of reasons.

Buzam looked Meia and the new male and asked the leader of the Dread Squadrons who this one was.

"Who's the new arrival?"

"I caught him hiding in the statue's base, he tried to wander about and escape as well."

Magno then appeared and looked at the three men and sighed a bit as she decided to sit down near the chair facing the two men and spoke.

"I heard that you all found some prisoners but instead of men you find a bunch of kids who are a bit wet behind the ears."

It was then that the robot moved towards the old woman and spoke.

"Hey! Its interrogation time! I'll tell you everything!"

The little robot began hopping to the place where Magno was sitting and began hopping around the old woman. It was very apparent who's side little machine was on.

The pirate captain looked down and gave a smirk. "Well now, how nostalgic! A Navi-robot, and this one's still in good working order."

"I'm afraid that I don't follow." Duero asked in his inborn curiosity.

"This ship's been on our home planet for centuries."

Bart remarked as he was afraid, but wanted to try and not show it.

Naruto on the other hand remained silent and wanted to find out what the women had to say about that. He knew that everything had two sides to it and this was one thing that he was very curious about. What was so bad that the men and women decided to live on different planets and go for each other's throats so long ago?

Magno snorted as she addressed them.

"I'll have you know that this ship actually was once part of a colonial fleet of ships from the planet Earth to colonize other worlds. This happened long before your fathers were even born. However, your cowardly grandfathers stole this segment of the ship and fled into the dead of the night."

The robot nodded as it continued with the explanations. "They overhauled the section and added residential areas to the ship."

Magno nodded.

"That's correct. We're just taking repossession of it again. So technically speaking, this ship now is ours. Now the big question in my mind is, what are we going to do with the three of you?"

Meia was the first to offer a suggestion and it was fairly obvious that she only had one solution in mind.

"We should just dump them in one of the still remaining escape pods Captain, we've got enough to worry about with the crystal trying to take over our ship."

Magno however replied while smirking at the men and licking her lips a bit.

"Let's try not to be too hasty there Meia, let's try and take our time on figuring out just who can cook these fellows up. Personally I like my men's innards medium rare."

Bart naturally panicked and looked like he was about to soil his pants as well as his undergarments, Duero on the other hand remained calm and relaxed. Naruto on the other hand growled in disgust as he saw Bart's reaction to Magno's obvious, at least to him, attempt to scare them and spoke out to Bart first.

"Will you stop that? I can't believe that you actually believe that mountain of crap those fruitcakes in your government shove in your face!"

He then turned to the surprised elderly woman and spoke out with a look of utter annoyance on his face. He had finally decided that hiding time was over for now and he should reveal just a bit of the real him.

"And cut out that downright stupid act Granny, you're no cannibal since if you were one to begin with, you wouldn't bother telling us those things and just killed us on site and ate us right here and right now. And I doubt your crew here are cannibals as well since why bother standing there and not go ahead with the eating?"

The people in the room were silent as they had not expected that until Buzam spoke, trying to figure out something about this man.

"You're a very brave man to say such things."

Naruto snorted and raised an eyebrow at Buzam and replied.

"Bravery's got nothing to do with it, I happen to not be a native of Talark to begin with so I happen to be a lot different from them, namely when it comes to the truth between men and women."

Magno was intrigued as she looked at the blonde male who she had to admit wore clothing that certainly didn't seem like the kind that men on Talark wore. However she decided to find out more of this man.

"You're not from Talark?"

The blonde replied to that question in his usual fashion.

"No I'm not, if I was one and I actually believed all the crap and lies those idiots in their government fill their ears and eyes with every day about women like you and your lovely crew members in this very room, I'd be like Mr. Piss-Pants over here when you said that line."

Naruto said as he pointed his thumbs at Bart, who naturally was shocked and a little offended by Naruto's blunt comment.

"Hey!"

Naruto replied to that.

"It's the truth man, you acted like you were going to wet your pants in the first place anyway and that is disgusting. I've been stuck on your world for six months! SIX MONTHS! You have any idea how difficult that is to deal with? There's no cooked meals that taste good enough to me, no hot springs to relax in, no parks, not a shred of greenery anywhere, no decent movies, no colorful celebrations, no decent books or magazines to read, and worst of all NO WOMEN AND NO RAMEN!"

"I had to listen to various guys for six months trying to ask me to give them my seed to have a child for Kami's sake, as well as ask me out on a date! I'd rather face the whole gang of Akatsuki all over again than have a relationship with a man, let alone have a child with one! And I have to listen to all that bull crap that they fill your ears and brain with about women for SIX freaking months!"

"That's the reason I snuck into the Ikazuchi in the first place, another month there in Talark would have driven me to insanity! I wanted to see other worlds, I want to taste honest to Kami food again, I want to be able to swim in clear water, enjoy a good drink with ice, and most of all, I wanted to see and if I could, actually talk to and touch an honest to Kami flesh and blood woman again!"

As soon as Naruto calmed himself down a bit after letting out what he had been hiding for six long months, he looked about to the crew and saw that his little display had stunned them to silence until the elderly woman spoke once more.

"All right then…let's suppose for one moment that you are indeed not a native of Talark, how the heck did you land in that world anyway?"

Naruto knew that telling them the truth was not the best of ideas, and he doubted that they would believe him anyway, namely with the idea that he had a demon still caged in him, was nigh immortal and older than he actually looked, and also happened to come here via portal courtesy of a long dead ancestral aunt of his, so he came up with the only answer he knew.

"I don't know, all I know is that I was there for reasons I can't understand and I had to stay underground and learn all that I could before I learned enough to find a way to escape by boarding the ship…and of course we all know how that turned out don't we?"

Duero was thoughtful and then spoke out.

"That would explain how you were able to defeat those guards back there in the ceremony, not to mention your sword skills and that ability you have to actually walk on the roof of the room without falling. That still does not explain to us how you are able to do those things though."

Naruto grinned a bit at that and replied.

"I was hoping to keep most of my skills under wraps but now that we're here, I guess hiding's a bit out of the question. I suppose you want to know how I learned those things huh? I guess you can say I was trained in them when I was young, after all, I happen to a Shinobi, and like I said before in the cell Duero, I am not going to reveal everything just about myself just yet."

The women were confused; the two guards looked at one another and shrugged while Buzam raised an eyebrow and so did Meia, Magno on the other hand took a hard look and spoke sternly.

"You're a Shinobi eh? Never thought I'd actually hear that term in my life time, let alone meet someone who claims to be one in this day and age."

Buzam turned to the elderly captain and asked her what that word meant.

"What do you mean by Shinobi Captain?"

"It's an old Earth term Buzam from ancient Japan's time, Shinobi is the term used to identify male ninja, Ninja were a secretive order of warriors who were male and female with the female ninja being labeled as Kunoichi, they served as spies, arsonists, observers, scouts, body guards, terrorists, infiltrators, and the last occupation they had and made them legendary in their time were as assassins."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, he had never heard of Japan before and was surprised that even in a world like this one, ninjas were not that unknown to anyone. The others however didn't take what they learned very well, at least on the women's side of the whole thing. The two female guards raised their laser rings at him, Buzam tensed a bit as she watched him while Meia aimed her laser ring once more at him and she spoke.

"What should we do with him Captain?"

"I don't know myself really, this situation is very much something that I had never expected to be faced with in this trip. Something tells me that you are not entirely what you seem, still Meia's question happens to be a very valid one. However, I think I want to hear what you have to say, what should we do with you?"

"I do have a name Granny, and it is Naruto, Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki, and in answer to your question, why not let me stay here on the ship? You already know that I'm not from Talark so I don't exactly have a reason to be your crew's enemy. And besides, I happen to have a number of skills and abilities that might prove…useful though I will keep most of them under wraps, all of which are part of my being a Shinobi."

Magno raised an eyebrow at this while Meia looked at the now recognized ninja and it made her worry as despite her still lingering distrust of the man, the fact that he was recognized to be an assassin of all things. She decided to keep a serious eye on the blonde and make sure that the very second he tried something on the crew, she was going to stop him, permanently if it came to that point.

However, the scrutiny she was placing on the blonde was not going unnoticed by the ninja in question as Naruto turned and spoke to her with a grin on his face.

"You've been staring at me for a very long time you know, see anything you like?"

Meia was surprised though she managed to hide it, however that was not enough as she glared at the blonde who merely grinned even more at her, not at all worried about the way she was looking at him. And that grated on her nerves more than she cared to admit and she replied.

"Keep your thoughts to yourself!"

"I would but if you keep aiming that ring at me as well as looking at me the way you are, I'm bound to think that you're either planning to shoot me with that thing, or you're looking at me for a far different reason. I'm hoping for the latter, but that's probably just wishful thinking on my part. Still, being stared at by an attractive woman like you even if she plans to do something painful to me is not too bad, right?"

Meia had no idea how to respond to that though Magno had an idea what was going on, it seemed that Naruto was actually flirting with Meia. This made her actually smirk, she wasn't going to trust this young man just yet, but so far, considering what she had seen, having him as a temporary ally could possibly be helpful in the long run. However, she wanted to see just what he was capable of.

"All right Naruto, I'll give you permission to stay here on the ship for now until I decide what to do with you on a more permanent basis. However, I have some rules that I want you to follow, considering the fact that you are not from Talark and that rather verbal display you gave earlier, I assume that you are familiar with women?"

Naruto grinned at that and nodded.

"Oh yes, I am VERY familiar with women in a number of levels, but don't worry, I'll follow the rules that you are going to give me. I have no intention of getting on a woman's bad side since I've learned a long time ago from personal experience how dangerous you women can be when you get riled for one reason or another. I may be skilled and possess some unknown abilities, but I'm no idiot."

(And that's not a lie either, I HAVE seen women angry before and while I doubt anyone among the women here is as strong as Tsunade-obachan and Sakura-chan, I am not in the mood to fight women who are not enemies to begin with.)

Magno couldn't help but feel a bit amused by that, she could tell that Naruto was not lying to her in both counts and decided to get the rules down and afterwards' she would have to figure out what to do with the two other men who were with the blonde ninja.

"First rule, keep your actions towards my crew civil, especially to the younger ones since I have a very good idea on what you might try to pull. Second rule, you pull your own weight around here, just because I let you into my group does not mean you get to lounge around and do nothing. And the Third rule is simple, and that is that you make sure to not do anything that can be considered as hostile. I don't like the idea of taking a life so I hope that you don't give me a reason to start trying that out."

Naruto thought it over and saw that those rules were very reasonable, she was thinking of her crew after all and the way she said it made him think back on a certain man who was like a grandfather to him. In some ways it was like looking at a female version of the old man. He smiled and nodded.

"Sounds about right to me, and they are very reasonable in every respect, I accept those rules of yours Granny, I swear it on my pride and life as a Shinobi."

Magno looked the blonde youth over and when she could tell that he meant that promise, decided to order the others to stand down, Buzam noted that and gave the same order as well to the others. The two female guards lowered their rings while Meia did so with her own though it was obviously with some level of reluctance.

As soon as that was done, Buzam then decided to ask a number of questions to the blonde Shinobi to figure out just what he could contribute to the crew if he was going to be with them, but first she needed to know something.

"What do you plan to do while you're here with us anyway? I still would like to know just what you intend to do on this ship and under our watch."

Naruto gave it some thought and replied.

"See the universe, travel the stars, have adventures, interact with people, eat and drink new things, do new things, seek new challenges, just the usual sort of things any young man would want in his age. Anything is better than setting foot on Talark again. I don't completely hate it since the place kind of reminds me of another world I've been to, but after being there for six months, I don't want to see that world for a while and I certainly don't want to be the target-board for men who have…less than noble intentions on my person if you get my meaning."

"Considering that little outburst you made before I can see why, at any rate, what exactly can you contribute to the crew and to the ship itself?"

Naruto grinned and replied.

"I didn't spend all of my time on Talark dodging amorous guys, trying not to listen to their propaganda crap, keep myself from losing my marbles, and eating pills that make the idea of eating cardboard appealing you know. I picked up how to pilot Vanguards and maintain them, so if your forces need an extra set of muscle in a fight I should be able to pitch in just nicely, I also happen to have a considerable idea on how to operate some of the other Talark built systems on this ship. And there are my…other skills."

This made Buzam and the other women curious, namely Magno who looked at the blonde and decided to ask him.

"Other skills? Care to elaborate on that young man?"

"First, you tell me what you know of the ninja in your case."

"They were supposed to climb walls, disappear, command the elements, make copies of themselves, that sort of stuff. Most of it is just hogwash though. They were skilled fighters, but there is no way they can do those things at all young man."

Naruto couldn't help but grin at that and replied.

"Well then, I guess I am going to have fun showing one of my said skills to you and the young ladies then, it should come into play right about…now."

The women were surprised when one of the doors opened and walked a new person, only in this case, they were all shocked and for good reason as the person before them was an exact replica of the same blonde male who was there in the room with them with restraints on. The new arrival was Naruto himself without the restraints on and he had a very warm grin on his face and spoke.

"Hi, sorry I'm late, took me a while to find this room."

"Wha?"

"How?"

"That's…impossible!"

"Oh boy…"

The men and the women in the room now found themselves facing TWO of Naruto, both of whom were grinning at them. Before they could respond though, they heard movement on the roof of the room and to their surprise; another Naruto appeared and landed nimbly on his feet, dusted himself off and leaned on the wall with a smirk on his face. That was soon followed by several more noises from both the roof and the floor as two more of exact copies of Naruto appeared, dusted themselves off and were now leaning on the walls.

The women pirates looked all over the room and so did Duero and Bart along with the Navi-robot, as they now found themselves surrounded by five exact copies of Naruto. Magno looked at each of them, trying see if she could find which one of them was the real one, but she realized that there was no way she could tell them apart, she then directed her gaze at the one who was still in front of her with the restraints on and hoped that she was talking to the real Naruto.

"What the heck is this young man?"

The blonde grinned and so did his four exact duplicates and then all of them spoke at the same time.

"Remember when you said that you've heard of ninjas who can copy themselves and you thought it was hogwash? As you can see, I am a ninja who IS capable of making copies of myself, these are not fakes, they are actual living, breathing copies of myself, they are Kage Bunshin, or in a more direct way of description…Shadow Clones."

The pirates were stunned while Duero was intrigued, Bart was wide eyed as the robot was as well…and Naruto was enjoying every second of this, it had been some time since he got to have some fun with Kage Bunshin and now was a good a time as any as he spoke out to fan the flames even more for some laughs.

"So now that the gang's all here, here's an interesting question for you ladies, which one of me, is the real me? For all you know, the one you're talking to right now might also be a Kage Bunshin."

…

In another section of the ship…

Ezra was currently looking through some sort of mapping device, no doubt trying to find any star system that would tell her and possibly the others on where they currently were. At the moment, she was with her younger friend Dita, who was someone she happened to be treating as something of a surrogate daughter or younger sister as she was carrying a special secret.

"Oh dear, none of this makes sense…this is impossible."

"What do you mean by that Ezra, it's really cool to actually meet a real live alien you know."

"I suppose that would be true, but still, all this is incredible!"

"I know Ezra! Alien powers are so amazing!"

"We used to think that the Paeksis was merely a power source of some type, but it was able to restore the ship and transform it as well."

"The alien's powers made it all brand new, so that means if I get abducted by good aliens…"

Dita's thoughts were cut short when she spotted a worried look on Ezra's face and her happy expression turned into a slightly worried and curious expression.

"Ezra, are you all right?"

The brown haired woman smiled at the redhead and replied.

"I'm fine Dita, I was just thinking about the others in the base we left behind."

Dita nodded and turned to look at the stars once more.

"I know, I wish the others back home were with us, they have no idea what they are missing."

"I really wish that I can go back there soon."

Dita however was looking on wide eyed and seemed to be showing a good deal of excitement on her face. This was enough to make the older woman curious as to what had made her young friend become more energetic.

"Dita, what is it?"

"Look over there Ezra!"

The young woman looked to where her friend was pointing and looked through her device to see that there were several objects that were heading straight towards them at what appeared to be at high speed.

"Oh my! What are those things?"

The answer came from the overly excitable redhead who now had cute images in her eyes, a smile on her face as well as cat ears and a tail.

"Don't you know Ezra? Those are MORE Aliens!"

…

Meanwhile, back in the room…

The pirates, the Navi-robot, and the men were still trying to figure out just who was the real Naruto in the room from the five. The four that came into the room were so much like the one who was sitting there and having the Megele made manacles on his hands, it was nigh impossible for them to figure out who was who. They would have preferred to guess that the one they had before them was the real one, but the question he threw at them was enough to make the pause. Naruto grinned even more and then decided to throw one last monkey wrench into the works before ending this.

"Or better yet, could all of me here in this room be actually Kage Bunshin and the real me is still uncaught and wandering the ship?"

Buzam was getting very much annoyed by those though she remained calm and cool, she could tell that he was living up to what the captain of being unique, the fact that he could make copies of himself that looked very real told her that this male before them possessed abilities that no normal man should have.

(Is he even a man? Or something else entirely?)

Magno then spoke seriously.

"Are you playing a game with my crew and me young man? Because if you are, then this game of yours is hardly amusing to me, this is a serious matter and now is not the time for games."

All five of the blonde Shinobi pouted and replied in a hurt tone as one being.

"Geez, you're no fun at all Granny, all right then, I guess the game is over, bye!"

With that, the Kage Bunshin exploded into clouds of smoke and to the eyes of the people in the room showing that the one who was in manacles was also a Kage Bunshin, however, the people were quick to notice that one of blonde Shinobi, was still in the room and was right behind both Meia and Buzam, they all turned to look at him and Meia spoke while aiming her laser ring at him while speaking seriously.

"Are you the real one this time?"

Naruto grinned and took a hidden kunai and cut his own hand, allowing blood to show before the group and he did it without being bothered by the pain. After all he had been through, a simple wound like that was not a major issue for the blonde Sannin. He showed his wound and the blood to the people in the room and replied.

"This wound I have that bleeds, does that answer your question?"

Magno looked at the man and spoke.

"I suppose it does, let me guess, when we found you, the one we thought to be you was actually a…"

"Kage Bunshin? Right on target, I actually woke up earlier and checked on the three ladies there to see if they were all right, afterwards, I made the Kage Bunshin that you ladies took with you, managed to hide from you all when you came onboard and followed you for some time until you all came to this room and then made the others to sneak into the right moment and pop up for the surprise. And before you ask about the wound, I'll be fine, I've had worse in my career as a ninja and I am a quick healer to boot, this wound of mine will be gone soon."

Naruto moved over to the place where the other men were, sat where his Kage Bunshin had been before and picked up the manacles with a hand and tossed back to Buzam who looked seriously at the blonde, Naruto then grinned at Magno who replied at his smirk.

"You're very interesting Naruto, I take that Kage Bunshin technique of yours has other uses apart from that little game of yours?"

The blonde raised his eyebrows at that with a smirk.

"Yep, perfect for scouting, ambush, surprise attacks, training…and, well…OTHER uses outside of combat if you get my meaning there."

Magno smirked a bit at that as she could easily imagine what the blonde referred to the term 'OTHER USES' and Naruto smiled warmly as well. The elderly woman decided to get on with finding out all that she could about the other two men who were natives of Talark, she was interested to learn about the fact that Duero was actually a doctor and she then wondered what they should do with the blonde Talark native.

However, it was not long before they were informed that they had company coming their way, and when Buzam asked if it was male reinforcements from the world of Talark, all she got was an odd answer, courtesy of Dita who was very much happy to say that the arrivals were aliens.

…

In a way, the young redhead was fairly right in that description as four limbed octopus like flying machines with one eye in the upper body began to move towards the fused ships and quickly began to open fire. Several explosions were quick to be seen on the fused ship. The ship's automated defense network was barely online and as such, the shields that normally activated to defend the ship were not active all over the ship itself and even those shield systems which were active were barely powerful enough to block the damage that was being inflicted on them.

Meia wasted no time and quickly ran off to get to her Dreads while Buzam was quick to contact Parfet to come up with a way to get the ship moving out the reach of the enemy before things got real bad for them all. However, Parfet replied that the engines would not respond at all.

Meia quickly tried to contact Barnette, however, she was not happy to find out that Paiway had locked Barnette in along with a number of the women that Duero had been treating earlier back on the Ikazuchi before the men decided to torpedo the ship. As for the green haired woman in question she tried to tell Paiway to let her and the others out, but the young nurse was not budging on the matter.

Meia quickly contacted the only Dread pilots she knew were not under quarantine by their young nurse.

"Jura! Where are you?"

"I'm heading to the platform right now, Dita is with me as well."

…

As soon as the blonde arrived into the room, she stopped as she spotted the sudden changes to their Dreads, she recognized her own, but now it looked radically different than the last time she had seen it.

"What the heck is going on here? Are those really our Dreads?"

Dita arrived and gave only one comment on her seeing the enhanced and transformed Dreads.

"Wow!"

Meia arrived and while she too was surprised by the changes but she placed that out of her mind and ordered her companions to get into their Dreads, once they were in they quickly ran through the systems of their machines. She was happy to note that the systems had not changed too much and made that clear as she ran a quick diagnostic check.

"It looks like the systems had not been changed too much, what about you two?"

Jura and Dita were there as the blonde spoke.

"I think I can fly it."

Dita, being the excitable girl that she was also spoke her own take on the situation onvolving their transformed Dreads.

"I bet the aliens' powers made our Dreads even stronger, this is so exciting!"

Meia replied to that as their Dreads were now ready to fly.

"If they are, that's no reason for us to get overconfident, let's do this right and defend the ship as best we can without taking risks all right?"

"Roger!"

…

All three Dreads were soon out of the fused ship and were deep in the fight, as soon as she was out of the ship Dita found herself being pursued by the unknown forces that were trying to get a lock on her and her Dread and she spoke out to the flying fighters that resembled four limbed octopi.

"Please listen up new aliens! We're really a peaceful race! Maybe we can talk about what is bothering you!"

The apprentice Dread pilot moved quickly and began to stir her fighter while Dita commented at her actions.

"Dita! Those are the enemy! Wait a second; Dita was never that good a pilot."

It was true, apparently the Dreads had gotten a great overhaul apart from their change in appearance in every fashion as Meia found out after taking down two more of the unknown forces .

"The system's changed somehow, but what are these things, no way are they Vanguards."

Jura and Dita appeared on Meia's communication systems with the blonde commenting first.

"I'm not sure what to make of these guys, but it's obvious these are not men from Talark."

"It's obvious what they are, they are BAD aliens?"

Jura looked at Dita who was not in the best of moods and replied.

"Not the alien stuff again."

…

Meia looked at the way the mother ship released those cubes and saw them turn into more of the fighters they had destroyed earlier. She quickly began to realize that Jura was right, these were not the same as the men, but she wondered about what Dita had said before about these being aliens.

Like most people, Meia doubted that such beings existed, but maybe Dita was right about their new foes being aliens.

"Are they really aliens as Dita said?"

She knew that she had no time to think about such things, all she had to focus on was taking out the fighters that seed shaped mother ship kept spewing out in order to keep them from harming the ship and her fellow pirates. But without any backup and no way to recharge their weapons, she was beginning to doubt that she, Jura, and Dita could last against the unknown enemy's numerical superiority.

…

Inside the ship…

Naruto rushed to where his Vanguard was and hoped that he was not going to be late, he had recently helped Duero carry the injured girl to the medical bay of the ship and was soon on his way to the Vanguard. When the attack happened, one of the girls was injured by falling debris and Duero quickly rushed in to help. This was the sign Bart needed to make a deal with the Captain, Naruto knew that the blonde cadet did it to save his skin, but it was a valid one at least.

He told the Captain that as soon as he was done helping Duero, he was heading off to help the three Dread pilots with their situation. As he arrived to the place where his Vanguard was, he stopped and looked at the machine and for a very good reason as well as the Vanguard had been…

"Wow…now this is different…"

Naruto looked at the Vanguard that he had marked before, it seemed to have changed somehow and in a good way. Gone was to dorky look that Bart had thought of before when the Vanguards had been shown in the videos before. The one eye was replaced by two and the face had been remodeled to resemble a human face with armor, on top of the head above the eyes was the symbol of Konoha. The face now resembled a ninja's face with full mask on with a sort of four prongs on the sides positioned like a crown that were moving backward as well as four glowing crystals near the Konoha symbol.

The body of the Vanguard looked more human like, that meant that originally mechanical looking form was sleeker and was modeled to that of the human body, the armor plating looked smoother and there were glowing lines on certain sections of the body, near the neck were symbols that were like one half of the Yin or Yang symbols that glowed a bit in blue light around the neck area. There was also the symbol of Konoha on the chest of the Vanguard as well as two spiral designs on the shoulders and stomach, also on the chest next to the Konoha symbol was the word for Hokage there as well as thrusters on the shoulders and back as well as two nacelles that had glowing crystals on them in the shoulders.

There were also nacelles on the back as well on the Vanguard and what appeared to be handles for something, no doubt weapons of some sort.

The legs were also made to be more human like in design and appearance, with armored sections on the thighs and calves. The arms were also mimicking the human body as well though there were two large armored sections there which had several kunai shaped blades on them aiming outward, as well as two diamond shaped crystals of glowing energy in them and he noted two more in the palms of the hands of the Vanguard.

All in all, it resembled an armored ninja in black with blue streaks as well as glowing areas of power and was very much unlike the boxy mecha that it was originally. Naruto reached forward and to his surprise, the Vanguard powered up and the chest opened to reveal a cockpit.

"Okay, this is definitely something that I had no idea had happened while I was out, I sure as heck hope that whatever turned you into… whatever you are now didn't alter your systems too much, cause it will royally piss me off if everything I learned so far on how to pilot you turns out to have been for nothing."

Naruto gets into the Vanguard and as soon as he was in, the control systems moved from the top to the front of him with the door closing to seal him into the cockpit, he quickly placed aside the desire to find out what happened to his Vanguard and tried to find anything that was familiar to him and thankfully it seemed that the controls that he had been able to understand in a Vanguard had not changed too much, though the cockpit was certainly a lot roomier than before when he got onboard the first time. The screens also seemed a bit larger as well as there being a few more controls than before.

He quickly began to move the controls and was pleased to see that the systems were relatively the same, he quickly accessed the OS and hoped to Kami that the data was still the same. Once he was sure that the systems were the same, he powered up the Vanguard and ran through the basic controls. It was after a minute or so of patient testing that he was content that the Vanguard, despite the transformation done to it, was ready for battle.

He powered up the thrusters and got himself ready for what was about happen. He then wondered about what would happen if he fed his chakra into the Vanguard, he did so and was surprised when the crystal orbs that were in his Vanguard seemed to glow, he wondered what that was for but placed that aside as he tried to communicate to the bridge.

As soon as he appeared to the communication screen of the bridge, he smiled at Magno and Buzam and spoke.

"I'm here, took me a while since my Vanguard seems to be upgraded too, I'm on my way out."

Magno nodded and spoke out.

"All right then, let's see just how good you are with that Vanguard of yours young man."

"Fair enough, but here's the thing, I might look young, but I am a lot older than you think. That will be for another time, right now, I've got some people to save."

With that, Naruto cut the communications and got ready to fight as he placed his Vanguard into the launching platform.

"Here we go!"

…

Meia and the other Dread pilots were having their hands full at the moment with their new enemies. And it was not long before they knew that until they got some backup, they were not going to prevent these new enemies from seriously damaging the now fused ships. Meia was quick to contact the ship and speak to the Captain.

"Captain, as much as I hate to say this, but if we don't get some backup soon, it's going to be too much for us. The unknown fighters are just increasing in number, for every one we shoot down; there are now three more coming in!"

Meia was not alone as Dita and Jura also gave their very own input on the situation that they were hip deep in as they did their best to fight the unknown forces.

"Meia's right! We need backup soon!"

"The bad aliens are too many!"

Magno nodded and replied.

"Don't worry, we've sent some backup already."

"Who is it?"

"A very interesting being and might very well be a living miracle in our current situation."

…

In space…

In her Dread, Meia was utterly confused by that statement by the Captain and wondered just who was being dispatched to serve as their back up. But Jura was the one who replied the most.

"I don't care who she is, she had better hurry up and help us here."

It was then that the three Dread pilots who were out their fighting the unknown heard a very familiar voice that was undeniably male.

"Keep your cool there, here's you backup, and it is coming in style!"

They looked and there was a form coming out from the still fused ship and there was an object coming in their direction, they were quick to get close and to their surprise, it was a Vanguard, but totally unlike anything that was in the hands of the men. They were surprised then the Vanguard suddenly moved it's arms and then unleashed a wave of four pointed glowing stars into a band of those alien cube fighters.

The stars hit them dead center and then exploded in a shower of pure energy, reducing the alien fighters that were hit into floating wreckage.

As soon as Naruto appeared in their communication systems, he smiled and then winked a bit in a very mischievous fashion at the three Dread pilots in his usually cocky way.

"Sorry I'm late, the Vanguard I was supposed to use took some changes too, but they always say the good guy usually arrives a bit late."

Dita was thrilled by the fact that Naruto was there and she was more than willing to show her happiness that he was there to help them.

"Mr. Alien!"

Jura was surprised herself as she looked at the smirking blonde male who had complimented her previously and she spoke out.

"You're the backup?"

"You were expecting an ANBU unit or something?"

"AN-what?"

The blonde laughed at that and replied.

"Long story, and now is not the right time, but I'll tell you what gorgeous, if this ends well, I'll buy you a drink if you like, hopefully I have some funds for that though."

Meia was even more confused by that and so did Jura and Dita but they hardly had time to comment as the black Vanguard suddenly took off and headed right to the enemy fighters at high speed, faster than any of the Vanguards who had been their foes from before and they wondered just what was going to happen now that this man was in their battle field.

…

As for Naruto, he couldn't help but feel a bit stressed out by the speed of his Vanguard, but he grinned as he managed to adjust a bit to the speed and spoke out.

"Wow, speed's a lot different than before, I might have to make some changes, but now, let's see what else we can do here, what else have you been given?"

Naruto quickly ran through the selection and he had to admit that this was a real test as he was trying to pilot his Vanguard and check his weapon systems while trying to avoid being tagged by these unknown fighters. This was different as he usually dodged such attacks easily, though in that situation, he was not piloting a machine and was only using his body. But the training he had gained by sneaking into the Vanguard simulation rooms back on Talark was paying off even if this was his first time.

He checked the rest of his arsenal and quickly moved to select the next weapons. It was not long before his Vanguard moved it's hands to the handles and pulled out a pair of metallic swords that were the same as his basic swords but there was a line of glowing crystals in liquid form in the middle of the blades.

Naruto smiled and began to move his Vanguard while cutting and slashing at the enemy fighters, cutting a number of them down and also stabbing his weapon into them while pushing his Vanguard to chasing them. One managed to move out of the way and tried to fire at the Vanguard, but Naruto avoided the shot and then turned and tried to attack the escaping enemy fighter.

Naruto glared a bit at his target and spoke out.

"Damn, you're a fast one, come here you little!"

Naruto reflexively fed his chakra into the machine, he was surprised as he noted the crystals in his cockpit were glowing again and he noted the liquid crystal in his swords glowed. He had a thought and focused his chakra a bit more and then the swords were bathed in blue energy and then a blade of pure energy appeared around the blade, giving it more length than before. The former Hokage recognized it and lashed out at the annoying Cube Fighter and was rewarded with the sight of the blade of energy cutting through the alien fighter, which fell in a neatly dissected set and blew up.

Naruto grinned as his glowing swords, this was the same technique Konohamaru's uncle Asuma used to make with his trench knives and how he learned to channel his Wind Chakra so long ago. It seemed that the same method could be done here and he liked that a lot, he briefly remembered the now deceased Jonin, and quickly placed that thought aside, but not before remembering his and Kurenai's son Hiruzen who was named after Asuma's father, and he briefly whispered to the deceased Jonin.

"This is for you Asuma-sensei."

…

Dita was awed as the Vanguard piloted by Naruto began to lash out with the swords in hand, cutting down several of the bad aliens and then somehow cutting down the enemy even if they were far away from him. She watched the Vanguard as it then placed aside one of the swords and fired more of the glowing blue stars that destroyed the enemy while moving at high speed.

"Wow! Mr. Alien is amazing!"

Jura also looked on at the Vanguard while the blonde Sannin was busy cutting down more and more of the enemy forces of the aliens. She had to admit that the Vanguard was a vast improvement compared to the ugly Vanguards that she had seen.

"Got to admit, he's pretty good compared to those rookies we fought with before…and at least his Vanguard's a far better sight on the eyes than those dorky looking ones we saw before."

…

But that was not all as Naruto spotted a number of the cube like fighters coming in and he then spotted an option in the Vanguard's weapon system menu and spotted something that looked kind of promising to him. He used it and soon a targeting reticule appeared and he locked it on a nearby alien fighter and pressed the trigger. Instead of a shuriken coming out from the armored section of the forearm however, it was a glowing kunai blade that was connected by a very long glowing chain of energy.

The weapon smashed hard into the enemy and Naruto decided to yank the target to him, the chain was soon brought back to the Vanguard fast enough to allow the blonde pilot to use the Vanguard's sword to cut down the target.

Inside, Naruto quickly had an idea and targeted another one of the alien fighters and fired the same chain and quickly did a high swing while yanking the chain back, as soon as he was done, he thrust forward and dragged the impaled enemy fighter with him, he stopped and flung the still trapped fighter and turned it into a primitive weight while extending the energy chain even more.

The trapped fighter was sent flying around a dozen of it's fellows and looped around them like a weight, wrapping the energy chain several times around them and as soon as that was done, Naruto wasted no time and dragged the whole mess of fighters towards him and then allowed his Vanguard's still present sword to be covered in energy to extend into a large blade of light and in a reverse grip, slashed outward, cutting the gathered fighters in half.

The energy chain moved away and back into where it had been launched before and faded away at the same time as the extended energy blade that was on the sword of the Vanguard, resulting in more of the enemy fighters being destroyed easily as the Vanguard turned with the explosions behind it, adding more of a serious effect as the blonde Vanguard pilot faced the rest of the alien forced before it.

…

On the bridge…

Magno was very much silent as she looked on at how the tide had turned into their favor, it seemed that having that blonde Shinobi was a good idea. However, she was still not very trusting of him and seeing how he decimated the enemy force before him and his Vanguard was something that the elderly pirate Captain was not going to ignore.

Buzam was stunned and spoke out.

"How is he able to do all that?"

…

Dita was in awe as she looked at the Vanguard piloted by the blonde and wished that she could do those things that Naruto was able to do, and she wondered if he had other powers that she had yet to see.

Jura was wide eyed and wondered what would happen next.

Meia looked on and she was very much unnerved by how much power this blonde male was showing before her and her fellow pirates.

…

Naruto spotted the massive alien ship which now directed it's full attention on him, no doubt seeing that he and his Vanguard were a far more potent threat and began to unleash more of the Cubes that would transform into fighters, the surviving ones that Naruto did not take out moved into an assault formation and were now firing their weapons at the blonde and his Vanguard. The blonde however had an idea and began to look into what else he could do and then had an interesting idea in mind.

He now knew that he could channel his charka into this Vanguard and decided to try up the ante and use one of his most recognized Jutsu. He began to focus his chakra into the Vanguard and placed aside his sword. The Vanguard moved it's right arm and had the hand palm open and soon the blonde began to focus his chakra, he was about to move the other hand over the first but discovered that he didn't have to as the sphere began to form.

He then decided to use the purified chakra of the Kyuubi and to his surprise the Vanguard seemed to react considerably to the increasing strength of the chakra that was now being put into it. The lines of energy glowed deeply and soon the familiar sphere of the Rasengan was seen on the palm of the Vanguard, Naruto then moved the other hand of his Vanguard into the very same position and did the same thing and soon there were two Rasengan in the hands of the Vanguard. Apparently the Vanguard's transformed power reactor was somehow acting in the same way as his Kage Bunshin would normally serve when making the Rasengan, and that gave him a very interesting idea on how to deal with the enemy once and for all before taking out that massive ship of theirs.

With that, Naruto summoned his Wind chakra and soon the tell tale signs of the fully completed Rasenshuriken in both hands of the Vanguard, inside the cockpit, Naruto was able to use his purified Kyuubi's chakra in his controlled Jinchuuriki form and it served effectively as a replacement for his Sage mode since he could not do it yet in space as he had no idea if it would work in the same fashion as before. As soon as he locked on the cubes, he charged and fired both at the same time as they were about to break apart.

Both spinning energy spheres with the shuriken like auras spinning around them, headed right for their targets and soon smashed hard and fast into the two Cubes, before they could break apart into their usual cloud formations of fighters, the impact was explosive as everyone saw the spheres exploded and soon surrounded the enemy forces.

The spheres detonated with explosive results as the alien fighters were instantly reduced into nothing as the blades sliced through them and destroyed them at the cellular level. In that instant, Naruto had turned the alien reinforcements into scrap, he then directed his attention on the alien ship and saw that it was in the process of unleashing more.

(Damn persistent one aren't you, let's see you handle this then!)

Naruto then decided to finish this up close and personal with another Rasengan attack, unaware of the fact that he was not alone this time around as a certain blue armored Dread was right behind him and his Vanguard.

…

Meia however was able to spot the Dread and spoke out to the pilot with a good deal of concern in her voice.

"Dita! What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure Mr. Alien can win this!"

Jura was also surprised by this as she called out to the younger Dread pilot.

"Dita! Get back here!"

…

Naruto managed to summon enough of his own chakra out as well as that of the chakra of the Kyuubi and soon summoned another Rasengan though considering the Vanguard that he was piloting, the sphere of pure chakra was about the same size of his Cho Odama Rasengan and was soon closing the gap and planned to slam this attack right into the very core of the enemy ship. However, it was then that he noticed the blue Dread coming his way as well as several of the alien fighters aiming at the Dread.

"Damn it!"

This forced Naruto to redirect his Vanguard and take out the incoming forces with the Rasengan, the alien fighters were destroyed easily but it was then that the alien mother ship decided to attack as massive tendrils came at the Dread, Naruto quickly moved in to get the Dread out of the way, but they were both hit by the attack and soon enveloped in an explosion.

…

Meia was shocked while Jura looked away in sadness and spoke out.

"You idiot!"

In the bridge, Magno and Buzam were not happy and thought that this was the end and they had no choice but to leave the ship and get ready for the worst, considering the way they were all in right now. But then the floating Navi-robot cried out and for good reason as something was coming out of the inferno that should have been impossible by any standard.

…

In the expanding inferno came a massive hand that soon ripped away the tendrils that were there before and out came a massive mecha that was much larger than the Vanguard that the blonde ninja had been piloting before. It was armored to be like a knight and had two blades on the forearms as well as two massive crystals on the back of it.

The surviving alien fighters tried to overpower it with their numbers as well as their mass, but their efforts were equal to using jelly beans to stop a runaway train. The massive machine swatted them aside and somehow unleashed several cutting waves of energy from the forearm blades that destroyed the opposition and also cause massive gouges on the armor of the mother ship.

It tried to fire another barrage of tendril, but the forearm blades were covered in energy and actually extended forward to the length of sword blades and with a slash from the arms, the tendrils sliced apart. The alien ship tried to escape but the massive mecha seemingly teleported to the front, closing the distance and kept the machine from shielding itself as the massive crystals moved into a firing position on the shoulders and then unleashed a pair of massive spheres that were similar to the Rasengan and were launched out and into the ship itself.

The end was result was the alien ship expanding like a balloon and soon glowing as the energy spheres that were unleashed into it were causing all manner of damage in it and soon, the spheres blasted their way out of the alien ship and it exploded in a grand display of utter destruction and soon the alien fighters that were not destroyed were soon powering down and no longer a threat to the pirates and the ship itself.

…

Magno leaned back and couldn't help but smile.

"I guess that young blonde was not kidding, this is going to be a very interesting day."

Buzam nodded at that and so did the rest of the bridge crew with the dark skinned second in command of the pirates speaking out to herself.

"This is a real miracle now."

That was the same train of thought in every crew member's mind as they looked at the image of the mecha before them.

In their Dreads, both Jura and Meia were looking on at the massive mecha before them and they were utterly confused and awed as to what had just happened before the two of them.

…

In the cockpit of said mecha…

Naruto sighed a bit and was happy that it was over had he was back to his normal self and he looked about, and despite the fact that he was a bit winded from the battle in the use of his chakra, the blonde quickly noticed that this was not his Vanguard's cockpit, it was roomy, but not this roomy.

(Hold it…where the heck am I now? And why is it that I feel something is on my lap?)

The second he looked, he spotted a long mane of silky red hair in front of her and then the feel of an undeniably female body on his own was enough to tell him that the feeling of something on his lap was fairly accurate though in this case, it was not something, but rather someone on his lap.

Dita leaned back and moaned out in a very happy tone, unaware that her innocent actions were having a less than innocent effect on the blonde Sannin and former Hokage who's lap she was sitting on as she spoke.

"I just knew that Mr. Alien was going to help us."

Naruto couldn't help but smirk at the innocent redhead who was laying on him right now and he was soon trying to keep his more amorous self from trying something on the innocent redhead. He disliked the fact that after so long without the company of a woman, he was acting like his younger self again when he finally got REALLY interested in women apart from dating them, he should be able to keep himself under control since hurting an innocent like her was something went against everything he knew and believed in.

Not only that, he had to remind himself to be careful around the Captain, while he had strong confidence in himself and his abilities as a proud ninja and former Hokage, he was not in the mood to get in the bad side of the crew he was somewhat part of. Not only that, he also kept in mind that none of the women on this ship had any idea, with the exception of the Captain herself, what he knew about the real deal between men and women.

He WAS tempted to tell them, but he knew that just as revealing the truth about women would have made him a real target for the men on Talark, telling the women about the relationships that can happen between men and women to the women of Megele was asking for trouble. Maybe once they got used to being around men, he was going to try, and while it was dangerous, there was one thing that he knew to be true.

Where was the fun in life without some danger in it?

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Well, that wraps up this one and we move on to the next chapter, I have to make it to Chapter Five and then I will put this story on ice and make the updates on the stories I mentioned before. On this chapter we have Naruto in action for the first time in battle and thankfully his time in learning how to pilot Vanguards on his usual hackings into the Vanguard simulators has paid off, though he is a bit uneasy in space combat.

I based Naruto's changed Vanguard to the form of both the armor of Karas with a blend of the character design of Hotsuma of the Shinobi game, as well as some elements of Naruto's own Sage of the Six Paths chakra cloak form. It is powered by the Paeksis that altered it, but is attuned to Naruto's chakra which is why Naruto eventually learns how to control it and also can channel his chakra into it and it in turn will allow him to use Jutsu.

Some you have already seen as the one technique Asuma taught Naruto during his training for Nature Manipulation, the next is his Rasengan and all the variants that Naruto can do in both the anime and manga. This will also include some special Jutsu that Naruto develops in his years as Hokage that takes advantage of his abilities and knowledge, along with his Sage Mode and also the Controlled Jinchuuriki form.

What they are will be revealed soon enough as the story progresses.

Another ability that is there with the Vanguard is the Chakra Chain ability, if you have read the manga, this is unique to Kushina, Naruto's mother and I plan to have Naruto use it as well as something of a surprise inheritance from her before she fades away, with him being her son after all and would no doubt have the same power as she did. And he can use this as well outside of the Vanguard as he did have forty years to learn many things and that includes his mother's special technique with her chakra. As to how many chains Naruto can use compared to his mother, that is a surprise.

The VanDreads will undergo some special changes as well soon enough, what they are will be under wraps but some special abilities from Naruto WILL be present in each of them so don't ask me what they are just yet, they will be revealed in due time.

As for pairings, I might lean to harem for the sake of it, but that's up to me, since I have to make the relationships blossom first.

Anyway, send me your reactions, comments, critiques and the like. If I get flames, I am using them to cook my dinner tonight okay?

Bye and see you on the next chapter!


	4. Filling In

VanDread : The Fox

Disclaimer: I don't own the companies that make Naruto and VanDread, if I did, I wouldn't bother making this story.

Chapter 3

Fitting in…

( ): Thoughts

…

The pirates were currently trying to get used to the myriad of changes all throughout the ship and it was not going to be an easy situation for everyone. However, there had been some radical changes that had happened only hours after the battle with the unknown enemy that decided to jump them for no apparent reason. The first was the fact that Magno had announced that the men had to be integrated into the crew in order for them to better understand the ship as well as head home to their respective home system. The men were no longer prisoners but full members of the crew with Duero handling the medical department and Bart being the navigator of the ship.

These decisions were made due to the fact the former had proven to be a skilled doctor, even more so than their current medical professional Paiway, and the latter was due to the fact that for some reason that still baffled everyone, including the engineer, the ship would only move when Bart was in command of the Navigation well. This naturally didn't quite sit well with the rest of the crew since they were not too happy with the idea of the men being onboard.

The only male who was not in the same viewing point of the two Talark youths was none other than the blonde self proclaimed Shinobi Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki. The blonde was what Magno mentioned a special case and therefore was not under the rules that the crew had for the men and of the rules their people had for men in general. The blonde didn't seem to be bothered by that and mostly kept to himself and would be routinely found in the area assigned to the men and in the Vanguard paddock where his new Vanguard was being kept.

He had taken part in rescuing both Dita and Gascogne when they had been left behind at the wreckage of the alien ship after the Paeksis dragged the ship away and into a nebula, and had done so without any hesitation whatsoever. This had endeared him to the red haired Dread pilot Dita who was more than willing to do everything to get close to the blonde male.

The other reason as to why they were taken into the crew was that the aliens had began an operation known as Harvest and it was involving the total invasion of both Talark and Megele and while the pirates had no loyalty to either world, it was not in their best interest to let the two worlds fall and they had to return home as soon as possible.

Of course, that hardly meant that it was going to be smooth sailing from here on out.

…

In the men's section…

Naruto was happy to have a room of his own for now, he pointed out that it would be better this way since while he didn't mind hanging out with Duero and Bart since they were fellow men like him, he was not sure that it was a wise idea until they got used to him being a man but far different from them.

The room had a spare bunk in it some basic amenities and a shower room, for which he was thankful since he certainly needed it. This section of the ship had been given to the men by the Captain and since it was connected to some of the old colony sections, it suited their purposes just fine.

As soon as he was done tidying up the place a bit, he sat down and removed most of his outfit until he was only wearing his black undershirt with his shorts, he had also taken off his forehead protector, coat, kunai pouch, shuriken and scroll pack and his swords, placing them to the side. The blonde had learned early on in his married life to start cleaning up after himself to make his place more presentable when he became Hokage. While Hinata didn't mind doing some of the household chores, having done that in her younger days even when servants were about, he tried to even up the workload for his wife.

And that was due to both Temari and Sakura making sure that he cleaned up after himself…after making sure that he got the message to not turn his place into a pigsty with a few well placed whacks on the back of the head. They cared for him a lot but they didn't hesitate to remind him that as a Hokage, he had to be a man of class, not to mention that when he was a clan head and a father, he had to be good example to his kids.

It took a while but he accepted that and always did his best to clean up, much to the appreciation of his wives when they were still alive, and besides, after a while, he got used to doing that a lot since it made good sense with him being a Hokage as well as a clan head.

The blonde groaned a bit and felt his stomach growl loudly as it occurred to him that he had spent the whole day without eating.

(Man…I forgot I haven't eaten a thing in a while, man…this stinks, anyway, I better go and find the ship's kitchen and hope that the women there don't freak out at the sight of a man coming to eat their food.)

He didn't have to worry as a certain someone came to his room, and that certain someone had something that was going to perk him up real quick.

"Mr. Alien!"

Dita Liebely arrived and had with her a bento, she had wanted to surprise Naruto with a meal from Megele as she wanted to show to her first contact that women were not really bad people, and she knew that good food would help. As soon as she was before the blonde, she presented the bento to him and spoke.

"Here! I made something really nice for you Mr. Alien!"

Naruto looked and quickly recognized just what exactly was it that Dita was carrying and his eyes glittered and his smile grew even wider the second he picked up a whiff of the smells coming from the thing.

(Is that…YES! HONEST TO KAMI FOOD!)

"Is that…food? Honest to Kami food?"

The redhead nodded and took out a set of chopsticks and a spoon and fork and sat next to Naruto and asked him a question.

"Which do you want to use Mr. Alien?"

Naruto pointed to the chopsticks and she gave them to him and unwrapped the bento, Naruto looked and his eyes glowed with happiness the second he smelled the rice, the beef slices there cooked in just the right fashion, and the fish as well. He wasted no time and spoke out his happiness in finally getting the kind of food he enjoyed.

"Thank you so much! Time to eat!"

Naruto took the chopsticks and wasted no time and ate the food, the very second his taste buds were greeted with the taste and feel of hot cooked food, the blonde felt like he had gone to paradise and relished each bite like it was his last. It didn't take very long before the bento box was completely empty and the blonde was not yet done as he placed aside his chopsticks and licked the box clean of any food particles left.

As soon as he was done, he felt his body literally sing with delight at the feel of food going down into it and his smile was warm and strong. As soon as he was done, he looked at Dita and smiled warmly at her as he reached out and held her hands and was bowing down in happiness, much to the surprise of the red haired Megele girl who had never seen a man act like this before.

"Thank you so much! I have not tasted anything that good in a very long time! Did you make this?"

Dita nodded and replied.

"I made it for you Mr. Alien, I learned how to cook a long time ago and thought that I can show you that we women are not bad people."

Naruto grinned at that as he found the redhead's innocence to be really nice and refreshing, he could tell that unlike the others, with the exception of the elderly captain, that she was an open minded girl and very kind hearted. He found that to be very endearing, combining that with her undeniably attractive face and body, it was a potent combination. He however placed that aside for a better time and replied.

"I can see that, and I am impressed, you are a great cook Dita."

The young woman smiled warmly at the praise and replied.

"Thank you Mr. Alien, if you want I can make you some more food when you want."

"That would be nice, but wouldn't that be taking away most of your time?"

"Not really, I usually spend time reading books, learning things from Ezra, and being with my friend Paiway."

The conversation stopped when Naruto's stomach growled once more, much to the blonde's embarrassment as he realized that his body now craved more food and he knew his own appetite was rather large, still, it galled him a bit to have his stomach act like this before such an attractive girl. His wives didn't mind that as they found it funny, and he was a lot older now so it took a lot to embarrass him, but it still embarrassed him either way.

"Sorry, it's been so long since I've had food like that…"

Dita smiled warmly and replied.

"No worries, how about I take you to the galley and you can have all the food you can eat, we've got a lot of supplies when we were still in the base after all."

Naruto's smile grew even wider and for the first time in nearly forty six years, the blonde smiled in the same manner he did when he had a very interesting plan in mind.

…

In the galley…

The women were looking totally wide eyed and couldn't help but look on in shocked fascination, and who could blame them as one table in the area was now playing host to a soon rising array of plates with it having only two occupants with one of them eating like mad.

Naruto was gorging away on the food that he was able to get when he came into the galley with Dita behind him after wearing his pants and sandals. The very second he and Dita walked into the galley, he was nearly driven to hysteria at the sudden assault of the smells of cooking meat, vegetables and the like. He moved and he was literally drooling at the sight of all the food which were on conveyer belts and had calorie tags on them. Even though he loved ramen a great deal and that hardly disappeared, he did develop a love for other foods during his growing up years and had kept his promise to his mother to eat vegetables and other things as well. And after being forced to eat tasteless nutrient pills for six months…this chance to eat well made food was heaven to him!

And right now, he was eating dish after dish and piling the plates, after he ate one dish, he got out of his chair and ate another and sat back down to eat once more. At this rate, he had now eaten at least twenty plates worth of dishes, and he also managed to get up and get a glass to drink as much water and cool herbal tea.

Dita was amazed at how much Mr. Alien could eat right before her eyes and couldn't help but notice that despite eating that much food, he didn't seem to be getting any fat on him whatsoever.

Jura was stunned and so was Barnette as they looked at Naruto eating away while Paiway looked on with surprise all over her face while her jaw dropped as well. They were not alone as several of the crew looked on as the blonde male was eating enough food to feed them all for a week.

One thought was in the minds of all the women…

(How is he doing that?)

The blonde Dread pilot looked at the man who ate away and spoke out.

"How on Earth is he able to eat that much and not burst at the seams?"

The blonde Dread pilot always watched her weight and that was why she ate only light and non fattening food, though she did enjoy a heavy meal every now and then. So to see this guy packing away enough food to feed the Dread Squadrons for a week and seemingly not getting sick was something she had never thought she would ever see.

Barnette was looking on in shock as she had her spoon half way to her mouth when she spotted the man walk in, she was not happy to see the man walk in even though they had been integrated into the crew by the Captain and she thought that he was not going to understand what this place was and what the women were doing here, no doubt the men were so used to eating pills that he had no idea what cooked food was.

Imagine her shock when the man got a pair of dishes, sat down, took out a pair of chopsticks as if he knew how to use them, and began to eat…those two dishes, one having sliced beef in light sauce with roasted potatoes and some carrots, and the other having sliced tuna sushi, squid balls, steamed celery, and string beans were but the first in a now growing number of plates on the man's table.

She had to admit that she was in agreement with Jura as she placed down her spoon and looked at the man in shock and spoke.

"I don't know…I thought the men only ate pills!"

Paiway looked on and soon moved to Dita and soon spoke to her young friend as soon as she was next to the redhead.

"Dita, how is he eating that much? I thought that men only ate pills."

Dita replied to that with a smile.

"Mr. Alien is different Paiway, he loves cooked food."

Naruto placed down his plate and looked at Paiway and gave the young Megele nurse a grin and replied.

"I'm not from Talark actually, I have been waiting for the chance to eat honest to Kami cooked food, and I am very happy to have this chance to finally eat some very good cooked food. I have to thank your friend Dita for making my day and giving me that pack lunch…oh my name is Naruto, Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki, what's yours?"

Paiway didn't know what to say until she replied.

"My name is Paiway, and I have been Dita's friend for a long time now, ever since we joined the pirates."

"Really? Well you're very lucky Paiway-chan, to have Dita as a friend, she's very kind and friendly to have actually taken the time to bring a meal to me in my room."

This surprised both Paiway and Dita with the two looking at one another. Paiway was very surprised to hear a man actually complimenting her for having Dita as a friend while Dita herself felt happy that Naruto was complimenting her for being a good friend to Paiway as she and the others continued to look at the blonde put away the food before him.

They were not the only ones looking though…

…

In the bridge…

Ezra was amazed as she looked at the screen.

"Oh my…he can really eat."

She and the other bridge crew were also looking on in shock, one of them, a blonde by the name of Belvedere Coco spoke out.

"How can a man actually eat that much food?"

Her fellow bridge operation, a dark skinned woman with her hair in long dreadlocks by the name of Amarone also spoke out at the sight before her and the others.

"He's an eating machine of the likes I've never seen before!"

Even Buzam had to agree with the statements of the three women who were looking at the sight before them all as she also spoke to the elderly Captain who was looking at the blonde eating machine.

"I have to agree, I've never seen anyone eat the way he is right now nor pack away the amounts, by all rights he should have passed out from eating that much food in one go."

The elderly woman nodded in agreement though she did have a smile of amusement on her face as she looked at the man digging away and piling plate after plate of food.

"Well, we can't exactly fault him, he did say that he had go without real food for six months so I am not surprised that he's willing to eat like a black hole. Though I have to agree with what you all have stated, it's been a long time since I've seen a man, but I've never recalled seeing a man who can eat like this young one here."

Buzam then spoke to the Captain, she was a bit wary of Naruto, after witnessing his…Kage Bunshin in action and also seeing him use his Vanguard in battle, she had a feeling that he had a lot more things hidden about himself. She was not keen on finding that out yet as she needed to take her time in figuring things out more effectively before making a move of her own.

"Captain, I don't mean to sound offensive, but I still feel that this Naruto is hiding a lot about himself. The fact that he knows things about us women is a bit odd, what would a man like that be doing in Talark of all places?"

"I understand your wariness BC and I do rely on it a lot when things become too murky for us to be walking into. This Naruto is definitely going to be a handful, and the fact that he treats women differently is no doubt going to be a real shocker to the rest of the crew, and I can't even begin to guess how the two men from Talark are going to view him. Still, he has helped us willingly and shows no hostility to the crew so we should at least show him respect. Besides, I have a feeling that he hides those things about himself for a good reason, and if he is the genuine article as a Shinobi, he keeps secrets because it's what keeps him alive and breathing."

"I suppose…however, I hope that he doesn't do this often, we might have enough supplies to feed our crew, but we never took to account having a man with a black hole for a stomach."

Magno chuckled at that.

…

Later in the galley…

Naruto placed down the cut of herbal tea and gave a loud sigh of utter satisfaction.

"Yes….NOW I feel much better!"

The women were still there, looking in shock and some level of relief at the fact that the man had finally stopped eating like mad and that allowed them look at the plates. The plates were in a very high pile, numbering at least thirty dishes in total and all of them were licked clean as the blonde youth had used his tongue to clean the dishes of every trace of food, showing just how much he missed eating food.

Dita counted the dishes and smiled widely.

"Wow! You ate thirty meals Mr. Alien, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm all right, I would have eaten more had the food been ramen."

"Ramen? Is that your favorite food Mr. Alien?"

The blonde smiled warmly at that and gave her his answer to that question.

"Yeah I love ramen a great deal, and I eat it almost everyday, but I do eat other foods every now and then. Still, if there is any ramen here, I would really love to taste it again."

Dita saw the wishful expression on Naruto's face and decided to try and see if this will help her get to know Naruto a lot more. Besides, she did know some ways in cooking ramen though there were not that many people in Megele who cooked ramen and she was lucky that her parents taught her how to cook ramen as well.

"If you want, I can cook you some ramen Mr. Alien, I'll try and make you some that you like."

Naruto looked at Dita with wide eyes and saw that she was not kidding and he very happy to hear that she was actually willing to do that. And Naruto MISSED ramen, the food he had already was great and he was full, but the idea of actually getting the chance to eat ramen after being denied the food for six months was WAY too good a temptation for him to say no to.

"You'd actually cook ramen for me? Wow, thanks! But are you sure you have time for that?"

Dita smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry Mr. Alien, I'll do my best for you."

Naruto smiled and did something surprising to the others, he hugged Dita!

"Thanks Dita-chan! You're a really nice woman, well, I should get going and fix up my Vanguard, I now have the energy I need to do the repairs and upgrades! Bye!"

The blonde left and Dita smiled warmly as she could see that Naruto was indeed happy that she was willing to make him his favorite food and she hoped that he would find her cooking of ramen to be to his liking. She also wondered why she felt a bit…warm when she was hugged by Naruto, she then noticed that all of the women in the galley were looking at her oddly and with some level of shock.

"Hey, what wrong?"

Jura replied to that.

"What's wrong? He just hugged you Dita! You need to take a decontamination bath quick!"

"Huh?"

…

Later…

"YAAAAAAHHHHH! SO COLD!"

Dita cried out as she was in the shower room in her undergarments as she was being decontaminated in her home-world's fashion by Paiway while Jura and Barnette were there. The blonde Dread pilot turned to the young nurse and spoke.

"Is she clear now Paiway?"

"Just about."

Dita then spoke out.

"Paiway! Please let me out already, this water is really cold! And I have to keep my promise to Mr. Alien to make him his favorite food!"

Paiway replied to that.

"Just a few more minutes Dita! Once all the male germs are gone!"

Meia soon arrived and was surprised to see the whole situation that was going on before her.

"What is going on here?"

Jura filled the aqua haired Dread Squadron leader and when she was done, Meia looked at Jura with an incredulous look and spoke out.

"You mean to tell me that the man had eaten THAT much food in one setting?"

"Yeah, we were surprised by the whole thing ourselves."

"And then you decided to have Dita take this decontamination bath after that blonde male hugged her?"

"Yes, she's almost done though."

It was then that Magno and Buzam came in and the elderly woman told them to put a stop to the whole thing as Dita seemed to be all right and it would be best that she warms up and gets to relax. The elderly woman had to admit that her crew might have taken their reaction to seeing Dita being hugged by Naruto as a sign of his thanks a bit overboard, but she actually found the whole thing both endearing and humorous at the very same time.

As soon as Dita was fully warmed up and feeling a lot less cold, she went back to work in trying to find the right kind of ramen recipe to give Naruto.

…

As for the blonde, he was busy working on his Vanguard to try and fix some of the things that was in the machine due to the sudden transformation of the machine by the Paeksis hours before. With his stomach full and his desire for cooked food calmed for the first time in six months ever since coming to this world, he had more than enough energy to do the things he set himself to do for this day.

He was back to wearing his usual gear and carried his weapons after making his way back to his room and then picked up a tool box and headed off to work. It had been a while since he fiddled with a Vanguard but he kept the knowledge and was happy that the Paeksis didn't alter his Vanguard too much so he could do some serious work soon. And he had to admit his Vanguard no longer looked dorky and boxy, something that the disliked in the original Vanguards even though they were effective.

No matter how old he got, Naruto still believed in looking impressive to surprise and impress the audience and at least his Vanguard was both effective and classy.

…

After several hours, Naruto decided to take some time off after doing enough work on his Vanguard and find something to do in the meantime. He placed aside his tool box and headed off to the place where he could at least get a chance to work out. It had been a while since he had some chance to put his combat skills to good use and see if he can keep himself from getting rusty. It took him a while but he finally found the gym and it seems that a number of the Nirvana's security teams were there as well as a number of the Dread pilots, including the blonde babe Jura. Naruto was hoping for some privacy to keep some of his more lethal skills as a Shinobi in check, so this somewhat annoyed him.

However, being the upbeat guy that he was, he decided to bid his time and see just what these women were capable of in close combat, he had already sparred with a number of highly skilled Kunoichi in his time and he was married to three of the best in his home village of Konoha, as well as fought with and against a few others as well.

So far it seemed that the women had some combat skills, but apparently it was not up to the Shinobi standard, heck even when he was his grand kids' age was not too bad in Taijutsu though he was not at the level of Neji, Rock Lee, or eve Sasuke at the time. He had improved ever since and was toted by one of the best in the village though he hardly made it worth mentioning, he had picked up some combat tips from both Sakura and Hinata as well so he was able to employ some of the techniques they had into his arsenal though he doubted he could replicate his Hinata-chan's Byakugan style of fighting due to not having the Byakugan like she and her family did, nor did he have the full power that Sakura-chan had though his Sage Mode and years of training had improved his level of physical strength.

As he watched the mock battles going on, he could tell that the close combat skills of the pirates might work in some cases, but hardly in others as the training sessions went on. It was then that one of the security personnel looked at the blonde Shinobi and wondered just what he was doing here of all things.

The woman in question was Jen Kazuma, she was a tall woman and was at the same height as Jura herself but had her light blonde hair in a long tail and she was equally gifted in the figure and bust department. She was one of the leaders of the security teams onboard the Nirvana and was considered to be fairly good in the department of hand to hand combat with only Meia, due to her past life in the mean streets of Megele being the better of the two. Jen was a former police officer on Megele and left because she got tired of the antics of her fellow women and decided to join the pirates.

She was good and had actually met Meia before, but she doubted the younger girl remembered her, unlike the other women who scorned Meia in the past, the older security officer had sympathy for the Dread pilot. But after seeing how the young woman had changed, she decided not to bring it up that she actually knew the Dread pilot. However, she did have her pride as a woman of Megele and didn't like the idea of men being on the ship.

"Hey you!"

Naruto turned and saw the woman calling his attention and he had to admit that she was not bad looking either, or rather, she was very attractive in her own right. He came to the conclusion that since the women of Megele were left to procreate with one another, then it would make sense that they would breed the best traits from the female gender, which explained why the women here were all attractive as hell.

He could bet that a lot of the men in his world would have been more than willing to trade their left nut to be in a situation like this. But considering how the women of Megele saw men, he had very accurate doubts that the woman was calling him over for a friendly chat. And he was right as he spoke back to the woman.

"Yes? Can I help you with something?"

"What are you doing here in the gym?"

"I came here to get some time for myself, work out and test my Taijutsu skills as well as Kenjutsu skills as well, I have to keep myself sharp after all."

Jen looked at the man and decided to see if what she heard about this man was true, as a former police officer, she didn't like criminals all that much and assassins were in her mind the epitome of criminal. Added to the fact that the assassin was a man, made the woman eager to see just what this man was capable of.

"Really? So you have some skills in combat?"

Naruto looked at the blonde security officer with some level of curiosity on why she was asking him that question of all things. He decided to answer her question in order to find out just what she was driving at.

"I do have skills in combat, why are you asking?"

"Why don't you show us your skills as a fighter then so we can see if you have them in a match, or are you not willing to do so in front of us?"

Naruto easily detected the challenge there in the woman's voice and wondered if he should, the blonde knew that this could work in a number of ways. But being the confident guy that he was, he decided to accommodate them. He got off from where he was sitting and moved to the practice mat and was soon in front of Jen who was soon flanked by her fellow security team members. The women were all eager to see just how this man would be able to stand to their leader and they grinned as the blonde was now on the practice mat.

As soon as he was there, the blonde Shinobi began to get his mind into the battle that might erupt, he might have been calm on the outside, but he was already keeping an eye on the other women, there was no telling if one or all of them were going to suddenly blind side him if given the chance, as well as focusing his senses into the environment around him as well as the women who apparently were taking a loose formation around him, usually the kind associated with an all area attack.

He looked squarely as Jen and spoke.

"What exactly are you asking from me anyway…wait, I didn't get your name."

"The name is Jen, Jen Kazuma and I happen to be one of the leaders of the Security Teams here on the ship. I heard that you were a Shinobi right?"

Naruto grinned with pride at that and nodded.

"Yep, and one of the best by far where I come from!"

"Right…why don't you and I see if you can prove that, you're skills against mine, and afterwards, let's see how you can fight all of my team at once?"

"There's a reason for this I take it?"

Jen smiled and replied to that question from the blonde Shinobi.

"I just want to see how good you are, and how you handle being hit all at once."

The blonde gave the woman a smile and nodded.

"All right then, your move."

Jen grinned and launched a punch at the ninja and replied.

"You got that right!"

However, that did not work out the way she expected as her punch was easily evaded by the blonde Shinobi while he stayed in position and he launched a light strike to her chest, not hard enough to hurt her badly of course, but enough to send her back with some considerable force. Naruto quickly got himself on the ready as he had no doubt that this was but the beginning.

…

Later…

Naruto looked about while keeping himself at the ready as the women in Jen Kazuma's group were now on the mats and were looking a bit worse for wear. After all, they had just fought a former Hokage, Jinchuuriki, and a Sannin as well. Jen had gotten up and quickly tried to attack with a one-two attack consisting of a punch and a kick to the side, Naruto turned the punch aside and ducked downwards enough to evade the kick, he quickly grabbed the extended leg of the woman and then tossed the woman over himself. The blonde ninja was soon on his feet as Jen rolled herself back to her feet and tried to attack with several more punches and kicks, but the attacks proved to be useless as the Ninja was able to counter her attacks and take her down a third time. It was not long before the others in the woman's security team decided to get into the act.

Two women tried to attack him together but Naruto quickly bypassed their attacks and flipped over them, landing on his feet behind them and hitting them quickly, placing them to the mat. Another tried to attack him at the right, Naruto countered by moving right past her and at the same time while driving a knee strike into her stomach, he then rolled over her bent form and landed a kick to the chest of another attacker and sent her back. Another female charged with a ready Laser Ring, but the Shinobi was quickly moving towards her before she could fire and quickly caught her arm and threw her back into the two he had beaten earlier, sending all three women sprawling to the ground.

Another pair came and managed to grab him, but the blonde quickly used some of his strength to move one aside off of her feet and then does the same to the other woman and leaps into action, plating two kicks to send the women back. The last attacker tried to attack the blonde Ninja while he was on the ground, but Naruto quickly gets to his feet with a flip and then rolls forward, forcing the woman to follow him when he turns around and lands a open palm strike to force her back away from him and he then moved in and lashed out with several strikes with his fingers in the same style as Hinata and Neji, the attacks quickly stunned the last attacker and sent her to the ground.

Naruto relaxed himself and looked at the women who he had just beaten and noted that they were all looking at him with shocked eyes as they had even managed to land a single blow on him at all and he had managed to overpower all of them in a few minutes. Jen looked at the blonde male who had just beaten her in a very short time, with shock and some level of resentment; however, she had to admit that the man was actually quite skilled in battle and had proven that he was quite good in a fight.

Nevertheless, her pride as a woman of Megele was strong and she couldn't help but feel her resentment grow at the thought of being bested by a man. She looked at him as he moved over and offered his hand and spoke to her.

"It was a good fight Jen-san, but I think you and your fellow team members might need to retrain a bit more, I can…"

Jen snarled and knocked away his hand and got up and dusted herself and looked at the blonde who looked at her with some level of disappointment and replied.

"Don't give me that look, you might have beaten me and my team, but I have no intention of letting this slide."

Naruto however smiled and replied.

"All right then Jen-san, if you want a rematch, then by all means I'll be waiting for the call, but if you want, I can teach you some moves as well."

Jen looked at the man and nodded as she and her crew left, Naruto looked at them and though a perverted side of his nature admired the figures, he had a feeling that he might have made some new enemies among the women. He hoped that he could iron things out between him and Jen, the last thing he wanted was to make enemies when he was there to make them to begin with at all. He looked about and since no one in the room seemed interested to fight him in a sparring match, he sighed and decided to focus on his Kenjutsu skills to keep his skills razor sharp on the off chance that he would need to fight a foe with bladed weapons.

He took off his coat and placed it down and reached behind him to take out both of his swords and place one on a nearby rack, he then got ready to begin his Kenjutsu training. He had started learning Kenjutsu when Koyuki gave him these swords as a wedding gift when they were married. The blonde had no experience with swords and had no idea how to use the swords but he talked to both Yamato and Kakashi had used swords in the past and eventually was trained by his friend Killer Bee in the art of sword play, namely with two swords.

It took a while but he learned more than enough to hold his own, though he doubted he would ever be in his friend Bee's level of Kenjutsu skills. He then began to go through the motions and after a while was getting into the swing of things as it were in his training with the sword he had with him. It was when he stopped briefly that he noticed that the blonde Dread pilot had moved forward and was actually looking at his other sword with a very open eye of curiosity and interest.

Jura might not show it much but she had a very deep fascination with swords, in her younger days back on Megele, she had taken a fascination with swords when she saw an old film about female swordsmen and decided to try her hand at it. She enrolled in one of the few prestigious fencing schools on Megele, which while prestigious did not have serious students in their roster who were interested in the art of sword dueling.

She later developed a talent for it and her coach, after three years of training the future blonde Dread pilot, declared that out of the students who were under her, Jura was by far the best one she had ever taught. This made Jura beam with pride and while she was not happy with not being able to find other women who had the same level of skill she had with swords, she didn't mind at all, she also developed an eye for appreciating not just the things that most if not all women of her home planet loved, but also for well made blades, even though there were not that many makers of such things on Megele.

She looked at the sword the blonde carried and noted that the blade quality was very good and no doubt whoever made it was an expert in the art of sword making and she had to give the person credit as well. She had seen many swords in her time in the fencing school and therefore, she knew quality work when she saw it.

(Nicely made, it looks as if it's more of a fine painting or a sculpture than an actual sword, where did this man get such a weapon?)

It was then that she noted that the blonde man in question was now right in front of her and giving her a smile, no doubt noticing her appreciation for one of the swords he had with him.

"You like the sword?"

Jura admitted that she did and replied.

"Yes I do, it's very well made and the metal looks to be top quality for sword-making."

"Thanks, by the way, I guess we were not really introduced that well, the name is Naruto, Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki, and you are?"

Jura smirked and replied.

"The name is Jura, Jura Basil Elden to you, normally I don't really have time for this, but I want to see just how good you are, and this time, it's with swords."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that and saw that the gorgeous blonde carried a sword on her person and while it was certainly not like the various swords carried by many ninja that he had met in his long career as the Hokage in Konoha, he could tell that it was not a show piece, but a real weapon. He looked at the beautiful blonde and wondered just what he was going to do, he certainly couldn't harm her as who knew what the result might be if he did something like accidentally harm her.

"Are you suggesting to me that we fight one another with blades? No offense meant or anything, but why do you want to do that?"

The blonde replied.

"I just want to see how good you are, I already saw your skills in hand to hand, so why don't I see you use your sword then? Just so we're clear, I do know how to use a sword so I might be a more interesting challenge for you."

Naruto could tell that Jura was serious about her desire to spar with him and he nodded, hopping that he was not going to land into a situation that was really going to get him into hot water with the people on the ship.

As the two of them faced one another, Naruto decided to fight with only one sword as the swords given to him by Koyuki were usable as a single weapon or in a pair with the other sword, he moved to a two handed grip and waited as Jura took out her sword and got into some sort of fighting position where she had her left leg in an L style formation allowing him to see both of her well formed legs as they were revealed by the slits on her dress while she placed her sword in front of her face with the flat edge before her in what he could guess was some sort of salute, she then moved her sword to point at him while moving her free hand back and she was ready to fight with him.

Naruto had no idea what to make of what Jura was doing in front of him but he could see that she was very serious as he readied his sword. The two faced one another with Jura smiling warmly and Naruto couldn't help but smile at the blonde babe, and that moment, Naruto and Jura attacked one another.

The blonde sword users began quickly trading slashes and thrusts with one another while they blocked, evaded, and parried the attacks that they sent at one another as well. The two were dueling with one another very well as their battle soon drew the attention of the rest of the crew who were in the gym. Naruto and Jura were very much fighting in full focus on one another though Naruto was having a hard time in keeping his focus on the woman who he was sparing with.

And it was for a very good reason as the way they were moving against one another in both offense and defense made the blonde Dread pilot's body move in a way that was guaranteed to be VERY distracting. Her more than considerable bust would move with her and bounce, which was REALLY distracting, couple that with the fact that her long skirt would move about to show her long and well formed legs to his eyes as well as her hips, and also the way her body looked with her smile, and her hair moving about, it was a wonder that he was not suffering a case of tight pants right now.

The blonde Shinobi had to use a great deal of his long earned self discipline not to lose too early with this duel with the woman but that was not easy as he was easily being distracted by the woman's beauty while they fought with one another and he had to do his best not to leer at the blonde beauty as he crossed blades with her.

In Jura's case, she was enjoying herself as she realized that she found someone who could actually prove to be a real challenge to her with swords as she was now using a good portion of her fencing training to fight with the man who was proving to be very capable. And when he attacked her with his sword, she had to use her skills to a high level to defend against his attacks. She enjoyed this fight and made it obvious as she smiled warmly at the blonde who she noted seemed to be blushing form some reason or another.

The battle between the two blondes lasted for quite a while now and it was not going to be long before one of them had to give. It was not long before both blonde sword users stopped fighting one another and began to pant a little, Jura had never been pushed that hard before in fencing but she liked the feeling as the adrenaline was still flowing in her veins and she liked that feeling as she panted a little while smiling at the blonde Shinobi.

Naruto himself couldn't help but smile while blushing as he had to admit that despite the fact that the blonde babe was breathing hard from the results of their sparring, she still looked undeniably hot and he couldn't help but have his more perverted self take over as he couldn't help but begin thinking VERY improper thoughts towards the blonde Dread pilot.

However he managed to recover himself as Jura saluted him and smiled warmly while saying something to him.

"You're pretty good with a blade for a man, but I can bet I can beat you again, I just have to dust up my skills once more, and then we can REALLY see who is better skilled with a blade. Bye!"

The blonde Dread pilot moved away and she moved with a sway in her step while moving her blonde hair aside, allowing Naruto to get a good view of her back as well as her hips as well as her well shaped butt. Couple the delicious view of the blonde babe's backside with what he had already seen, and it was a sight that Naruto was going to enjoy playing again and again in his own mind as he had a number of rather perverted ideas and he couldn't help but mentally whistle at the blonde woman.

(Damn…she is HOT!)

Naruto quickly noted that the blonde was soon greeted by the sight of the green haired woman who walked over to the blonde babe and they were talking and soon the emerald haired woman walked over to him with the blonde woman in tow and the two were soon before the blonde. The emerald haired woman glared at the ninja and spoke out seriously.

"You fought with my friend?"

Naruto replied to that as diplomatically as he could as he could tell that the emerald haired woman was seriously not happy.

"I didn't fight your friend seriously, she asked to spar with me using her sword while I used one of mine, I agreed and that is why we were sparring with one another."

Jura then replied.

"Sorry about that, Barnette is rather protective of me after all."

"I can see that."

Naruto had to admit that this Barnette was also attractive in his own way of seeing women and she certainly had the face to go with the figure. She was not as…well developed in the chest department as her blonde friend, but she was hardly lacking and wore and outfit that would REALLY added some serious fuel to a man's hormones, just like his at the moment. But he could tell that she was not very happy with her friend associating with him, so no doubt that she was one of the women who believed what her people said about men.

(Damn shame that one. But still, despite the I hate men look she's got on, she's hot.)

It was then that Naruto decided to try a train of thought that he knew would have gotten him into serious hot water with women who were friends, but considering that the two of them came from an all female planet, it was possible, but there was only one way to find out.

"So you two are friends, are you CLOSE friends?"

The blonde smiled warmly and replied to that question.

"Oh yes we are, we joined the pirates together."

"I see…"

Barnette looked at the blonde with some wariness, not exactly sure what was the reason he had taken this train of questions and decided to reply.

"Yes we're close to one another, we're lovers in fact, is there anything wrong with that?"

To their surprise, the blonde didn't look shocked and instead his smile became more…odd, and he replied.

"None whatsoever, I can guess that being from an all female planet can do that to you two so I'm not surprised. Couple that fact with both your figures and good looks, I can bet that things between you two can get VERY interesting when you two get to have some private time together."

"You're not troubled by that?"

Naruto replied to that.

"Not at all, truth be told, I actually find the idea of two women being intimate to be…well exciting. That's probably because I've had…experiences with some women before who were in some ways like you two, and I've been around women before so I don't get surprised that easily when it comes to women. I'm not from Talark by most standards so I don't see women the way they do by any standard of their world. I do KNOW more things about relationships that can occur between men and women that have nothing to do with killing one another of course…but that's best saved for another time."

With that, Naruto got his swords and walked away, Jura and Barnette looked at him curiously while Barnette still had some level of hostility towards the blonde male. She had arrived there and despite the fury in the sparring matches she had witnessed she had seen the way the blonde male looked at Jura and she didn't like it, what also confused her was that he looked at her the same way, and that…was a bit disturbing to the emerald haired woman.

As for Jura, her interest was piqued.

As Naruto walked away, he was quick to have some very interesting images involving the two women doing what he now knew they did in private and grinned perversely to himself. He had seen those images before…after all, being married to more than one woman in his past life had allowed to see what women could do to one another when they were able to develop an intimate attraction to one another. He had seen that happen between Sakura, Hinata, Amaru, Temari, and Shion and they did it because they wanted to make him happy as well as finding it exciting themselves on their free time. Of course he had partaken in said activities as well with them in the past so that was why he was hardly bothered by what Barnette said and truth be told, the next set of images that popped into his brain was what he could do to them separately or when they were together…

He knew that Barnette would be riled to hell if she caught him thinking those things about her and Jura, but he hardly cared, after all, none of the women here were mind readers.

…

In the bridge…

Magno and Buzam were talking about the images they had just witnessed concerning the battles that Naruto had been in with the crew and while they were worried, they saw that he didn't harm their crew at all. Already the ship's rumor mill about the blonde was on the way. Thankfully no one was aware of the conversation between the blonde and the two Dread pilots…yet.

Some of the women thought that it was only through sheer luck that he beat Jen and her group, while others admitted that for a man, he fought pretty well, while holding his own very well against Jura who was recognized as one of the best and only sword user here on the pirates. The rumors all depended on what they thought of the blonde, unaware of the fact that Naruto had a lot more to show them in the future.

…

The next day…

Buzam was busy in the sub bridge, she had to load a copy of the data that they recovered from the ruins of the alien mother ship that had been destroyed hours before and completely this time by Naruto and Dita when the blonde had gone out to help the two female crew members of his own personal choice, though the silver haired woman wondered why he seemed more eager the second he found out that one of the missing crew back at the wreckage of the alien ship that was destroyed was Dita herself. The commander of the pirates was soon finished, just as the leader of the pirates came on a screen.

"Is everything ready Buzam?"

"Yes Captain, all the data we have complied about the aliens and 'Harvest' operation is here and ready to be sent out."

Magno then commented about something she was quick to notice while the silver haired woman was in the bridge.

"How come you are sending out two pods BC?"

Buzam turned to the other pod and replied.

"The other one is for the men of Talark, they might not listen to us because we're women, but we have to tell them either way since they are also going to be attacked as well by the Aliens like our people are."

"True, they do deserve to know, all right, the sooner we get the message out, then all the better for everyone here on the ship."

"Roger."

Buzam pressed the switch and both pods were taken into the Launch tubes and were soon sent out from the Nirvana and on their way to their destinations as their engines kicked in. However, to the shock of Buzam and Magno, it was not long before the aliens came on the scene. The pods were quickly destroyed and that was enough to sound the general alarm all over the ship which was now termed as the Nirvana as four alien fighters were now on the scene and attacking the Nirvana.

…

Meia and Jura were already on their way to their Dreads, they had stored the modified Dreads in the men's side of the ship so they actually had less time to waste in order for them to get to their Dreads. They were resting in the galley when the attack happened and they were on their way to their Dreads to keep the enemy occupied with the other Dread pilots scrambled and faced off with the enemy.

However as soon they arrived, the Dread Squadron leader was surprised to see that Dita was already there and yet not in her Dread.

"Dita! What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be in your Dread!"

Dita replied while spinning in a pirouette.

"I came here and I saw Mr. Alien got into his Vanguard and took off! Whoosh, he was SO fast!"

This got a reaction from both the female Dread pilots.

"He's out there already?"

Jura was surprised at how fast the man had gone out to fight the alien fighters that they now dubbed as the Cube Fighters, namely due to how they were deployed in battle by their new enemies.

Meia on the other hand was far from happy as she looked at the outside area of the Hanger Bay.

It was not long before Naruto's Vanguard came back into the Hanger and landed safely in dry dock, once the Vanguard settled in, Naruto climbed out, somewhat deep in thought on something. When he had gone out to face the threat, he had expected the alien fighters to be escorted by that seed like ship from before, however, it seemed that the attackers were in a four unit group. That told the blonde that the attack was not merely to damage the ship in any possible fashion, but to gather information.

(But for what I wonder?)

His train of thought was cut short however once he was on the floor and found himself facing none other than Meia Gisborn who was showing a good deal of dislike for his actions. This was enough to stop the blonde as he decided to see if he could find some way of avoiding a possible incident with the crew which was in the same level when he had faced Jen and the members of her security team only two days ago.

"Yes? Can I help you with something?"

The woman glared at him and spoke out.

"What were you doing out there?"

The blonde was very much confused by that and replied.

"What do you mean by that exactly? I was fighting the enemy and dealing with them before they got a chance to cause even more mischief."

"You went out there without authorization!"

Naruto looked at Meia and wondered just what was going on here, you didn't need authorization to deal with an enemy as far as he knew, of course having been a Hokage for most of his growing up years after the Fourth War, he knew that following orders was needed in the battle field. But he was not a regular Hokage and his time with Kakashi-sensei and many others taught him that action was needed in very difficult situations. The four Cube Fighters were a mystery, but he didn't like mysteries when it came to the enemy.

"Authorization? You mean to tell me that I have to sign some forms to go out and fight the enemy or something? This kind of weird if you ask me."

"That is not what I meant and you know it!"

Naruto gave a cheeky grin at the way Meia was glaring at him, making the aqua haired Megele Dread pilot even more annoyed by him, he noted that easily enough and then spoke out.

"You know, if you just relaxed a bit more, it would help keep you healthy, stress is a sure fire way to get sick and age faster. And that would really ruin someone as attractive as you Meia-chan."

"Stop trying to change the subject! Get one thing straight, we don't need your help, we can handle things just fine without your help!"

Naruto laughed at that and replied.

"Yeah, I have no doubt you can, but I doubt the enemy is going to wait for you, as you can guess, they aren't exactly gentlemen. The sooner they were dealt with then the ship would be in better hands. I'm not saying that procedure is wrong, but if you get bogged down by, it becomes more trouble than it's worth."

Meia snorted at that and replied.

"You're one to talk, you happen to be a prisoner on this ship and as such, you have no right to just do what you want on this ship."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that and replied with a smirk on his face.

"If I were to recall, your Captain allowed me as well as Duero and Bart to be part of the crew so I'm no longer a prisoner by any standard and I am doing what I am good at and that is fighting the enemy. And speaking of the enemy, the fact that they sent four units with no backup tells me they were just a small group gathering intelligence data, I've seen that before so if they are planning something, you're going to need my help at some point Meia-chan."

Meia glared even more and replied.

"Don't give me that, you rely on that Vanguard a great deal, but I can bet without it, you would not be of much help in a fight, I heard how you fought with both Jan and Jura in the gym yesterday."

"You did huh?"

"Yes, and while I can bet you do know how to fight, don't let those things get to your head. Unless you can fight the enemy without that partner of yours, stay out of the business of my fellow Dread pilots."

Naruto laughed a bit and replied.

"I hope you're not suggesting I go out in a space suit and fight the enemy with my bare hands the next time they show or something Meia-chan, that's just plain foolishness and you and I both know that to be very true. I might be very capable as a Shinobi, as well as having some other talents that I prefer not to show just yet, but I do have limits after all, and one of them is fighting out in space bare handed. Besides, I am no longer a prisoner no matter what you say, unless you decide to talk to the Captain about it of course."

The two glared at one another and Meia was getting even more annoyed by the way the blonde Shinobi looked at her and Naruto could tell that this was not going end until one of them did something to the other. As much as he didn't like the idea of antagonizing allies, he was not a big fan of authority figures unless he respected them and while he could tell that Meia was no slouch in the department of combat and leadership, judging by what he's heard and seen, he was no slouch either, he wasn't going to give up to her, not by a long shot.

Meia then replied.

"I don't like you Naruto Uzumaki."

"I can see that, but I don't care, I am not a man from Talark after all so your rules towards them don't apply to me."

"Says you…"

"All right Meia-chan, how about this? You try and knock me out with a single blow, if you do, then you can say your rules towards Talark men can apply to me, but if I knock you down, then you stop trying to boss me around."

Meia arched her eyebrow and replied.

"Are you playing with me?"

"Playing with you Meia-chan? Trust me, if I wanted to play with you, it would be in a far more…pleasant game. But in this case, no, I am a man of my word."

Meia snorted and replied.

"A man of his word huh? I find that hard to be believe coming from a Shinobi of all people."

Naruto then gave up his usual smile and became serious and stern and replied.

"I am a man who keeps my promises Meia-chan, and I mean it, so do you want to do this or waste both our precious time by staring at me all day?"

The aqua haired woman nodded and got ready and quickly attacked the blonde, showing to the blonde that she fought like a brawler, just like those who were from the streets, there was a story there, but right now Naruto was not interested in reading Meia's life story, she doubted his ability to keep a promise and that was among the few things that were powerful enough to get his temper up, apart from several other things that he prefer not to remember.

Naruto dodged several punches from the blue haired girl as well as a powerful side kick, Naruto quickly leaped over her and he quickly flipped backward as she tried to punch him the second he landed on the ground earlier and then as he landed, he quickly grabbed her arm and tossed Meia to the ground, Meia had the mind to get to her feet before she landed, but she left herself open and Naruto took this chance to strike a hard but not too powerful blow to Meia, sending her hard to her posterior.

The battle lasted only half a minute, but Naruto had to admit that Meia had great potential as a fighter and would be a good Kunoichi had she been born into the village of Konoha, or any of the known villages for that matter. However, he looked at Meia was looking at him with a very heated glare and one of her hands rubbing her backside. He then spoke to her with a serious tone.

"I win the battle, so I hope that you live up to your promise not to see me as a man of Talark. But if you plan to do otherwise, then be prepared Meia-chan, I am not someone who will bow down easily to anyone, the only people I bow down to…are the ones I respect, and to be honest, you have yet to earn mine."

With that Naruto walked away, leaving Meia, Jura, and Dita alone for the time being.

Meia looked at the blonde male's back and fumed at how he had easily flipped her like a flapjack, she had every intention on getting her chance to even the score. He may not be a man of the all male planet, but she was not going to let that stop her from showing him that he was not going to have free reign on the ship even if he was not a prisoner by the order of the Captain.

She was unaware of the fact that Naruto knew that she was going to do what she could to get even with him after what he had done to her earlier. He had seen the fire in her eyes and while it added to her attractiveness, he knew that the same fire was a sign that she was going to find some way to get even with him in any possible fashion, and since she had a high standing in the pirate crew, she might get away with it. But that hardly bothered him, after all, after all he had been through, there was no way he was going to let anything take him down without a fight.

Besides, if he played his cards right, he might turn the whole thing around and make into an advantage. And knowing his level of luck, which was described so well by Tsunade as the luck of the devil itself, he was going to have fun doing it too.

…

Later…

"He's a danger to this ship and to the crew Captain."

Meia was currently there before Magno and speaking about the blonde male who had just become someone that she seriously disliked and wanted to beat in some fashion. It was bad enough to her that he had free reign around the ship without being watched, but him acting the way he did and snubbing authority was something that Meia could not ignore.

Magno could see that this was something that Meia was not going to let go of and she knew that this was something that had to be dealt with quickly before things got out of hand. She was able to guess that considering his abilities and skills, Naruto would prefer to do things his way, and while she had to admit that they did work, they seemed to grate the nerves of others.

"I take it you don't approve of Naruto being part of the crew Meia?"

"That's a very gentle way of saying it Captain. He's impulsive, he does not follow orders, and he's…so…infuriating! Not to mention the fact that being an assassin of all things makes him a serious threat to the crew if he decides to attack us."

Magno had to admit that Meia did have a point there, however, she had to also accept the fact that Naruto had proven himself an asset so far to her and the crew. Not to mention the fact that she was curious as to how things would play out with her crew and the blonde male. She could already see that things had gotten a lot livelier in the ship since they took the men into their crew, and considering that Naruto was quite capable in his own right, coupled with his knowledge of women, he could handle himself fine. And truth be told, she was actually curious what he would do.

"I suppose that is true, but we must not forget that he has already done us a number of favors and his skills as well as his Vanguard are valuable assets that we cannot afford to waste in any fashion. But if you believe that he is a danger to the crew, namely to the Dread Squadrons, then maybe he will agree to taking a different assignment while on the ship?"

Meia smiled as she was already planning to show that man his place, even if he was not from Talark.

…

In the Medical Bay…

Duero was currently working on studying the state of Ezra, ever since seeing that the rumors of women being able to have children internally, the young doctor took a great interest in learning as much as he could about how such a feat could be accomplished. At the moment, the doctor was currently running some tests and checking on the young mother to be. He looked to Ezra who was currently lying down on a bed and rubbing her belly.

It still amazed him that the women were truly able to have children internally, he and the men of his age group along with Bart were born in factories or rather, special birthing vats that allowed them to be born into term. It was a hard and difficult process and constant vigilance and prudence was needed to bring many of the children to full term. To actually give birth to children internally and not waste time and resources in the same way birthing factories did, it was a very interesting thing.

When he found out about Ezra having a baby, or being 'pregnant' as it were, he took an interest to see how the baby would be born and he did what he could to learn as much as possible. He turned and spoke to Ezra who was waiting expectantly for news on her growing baby's health.

"You're daughter is growing nicely and so far, I have detected no physical anomalies."

Ezra smiled and replied.

"Thank you Doctor, I feel much better though I still feel a bit tired, I guess my daughter is very active."

"I suppose you are correct, the fact that you've increased your food intake from before tells me that you are now feeding both yourself and her."

It was then that Naruto walked in and he smiled at Ezra, the sight of the gentle bridge officer being pregnant brought back a stream of memories for the blonde Shinobi as he recalled just how his wives had been when they had been pregnant. He recalled all the good and bad memories when he raised his children as well as helping his grand children when they were young, and he could see that the baby was going to be in good hands. He walked over to the mother to be and spoke warmly to her.

"It's nice to see that you are going to be a mother Ezra-san, looks like your little wonder is growing nicely right now, make sure to eat a lot of healthy food as well as some sweets every now and then. Babies can develop a love for food that their mothers eat while they are pregnant and when they are born, they love that kind of food once they get old enough to eat solid food."

This surprised the two in the Medical Bay and even Paiway was surprised as she spoke when she came in from the other side of the room.

"How do you know that?"

Naruto grinned and replied.

"I had some experience with pregnant women and I watched them raise their babies as well after their little bundles of joy were born, so I have it on some solid authority."

Ezra smiled and replied.

"I heard the same thing as well, I'll take your advice Naruto-san."

Naruto grinned warmly and spoke.

"Do you mind if I…well, touch your stomach Ezra-san?"

The gentle bridge officer nodded and Naruto did so, smiling as he felt through his chakra senses that the baby was healthy and growing nicely. He rubbed Ezra's belly slowly and when he was done, he gave a slightly sad smile as he recalled just how he felt when he did the exact same thing feeling his first born children when they were still in his wives' wombs and how it filled him with fatherly pride. He missed that a great deal…along with the pride of being a grandfather when he felt his grandchildren growing as well in their mothers' wombs.

Ezra saw that and she was surprised at the look of sadness in his smile, she wondered why he was like that and asked.

"Are you all right Naruto-san?"

Naruto shook his head and looked at Ezra.

"What?"

"You looked happy…and yet, sad, why is that?"

The blonde gave a smile and replied.

"I'm fine…anyway, I wish you and your baby a good life and I have no doubt you will make a wonderful mother to your baby."

Ezra smiled though she was still wondering why Naruto became like that, Paiway was confused as to how could a man know those things, while Duero realized that since Naruto was not from Talark, he might know some things that might help him understand more about how pregnancy in women actually worked. As Naruto sat down and Duero went to check on him, the Talark doctor began to take into account that Naruto seemed to be normal at first, but after what he had seen his fellow male do, he doubted that he was anything but normal.

After some scans, Duero had to admit that he was somewhat…disappointed and that was easily noticed by the blonde as he spoke.

"What seems to be the problem Duero? You look disappointed for some reason."

"I will admit that I am a bit disappointed, your anatomical data shows no anomalies, your organs show healthy signs, no foreign organisms or mechanisms of the sort, no abnormal body functions or temperatures, nothing. You're perfectly normal."

Naruto raised his eyebrows at that and replied.

"Isn't being normal supposed to be a good thing?"

"Yes it is, and truth be told, you are in the bloom of health, better than most I've seen, but still…I was hoping to find out just how you were able to do the things you were able to do."

The blonde grinned and replied.

"Oh, you mean my Jutsu skills huh? Well, I guess it won't hurt to explain some of it, the reason I can do those Jutsu is because I use chakra."

"Chakra?"

"It's an energy that can be found in all living things and even in nature, all my Jutsu uses a certain level of chakra after all. You gain chakra by training both physically and spiritually as well as learning how to focus your chakra and shape it into making your Jutsu work, it also augments other abilities if you have the skill and time to train. The chakra of nature however…requires certain conditions."

"Fascinating, do you happen to be the only one to use it or is it for everyone?"

"Well…that depends, most if not all people can use chakra, even you Duero with the training and discipline, but there are the rare few who cannot for one reason or another."

Before Duero could delve further into this new discovery however, Meia arrived and she had a smug grin on her face while looking at Naruto.

…

In the Register…

Naruto looked at the outfit that was being offered to him by Gascogne and the way that it looked made him raise an eyebrow. He had a feeling that Meia's decision of assigning him to the Register was a way to get back at him for what he did before. Pretty petty in his mind, and was no doubt made to try and humble him in some fashion and no doubt she was going to have him do menial labor to show him…his place as it were. Naruto however had been through far worse and actually figured out already how to turn this whole thing around on it's head. But first, he had to be sure…

"So let me see if I get this right, I'm supposed to wear this outfit while working here?"

Gascogne nodded and replied to that.

"Yes, you do realize that the Register is an all female outfit so you have to dress the part."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that.

"You do realize I happen to be a man right?"

The head supplier had to admit that she found the guy to be rather funny in an odd fashion, but she was all business, and while she had a very accurate idea on what was Meia's plan with having the blonde male in the Register, she couldn't shake the feeling that this might not work out the way Meia had planned.

"I know that, but we don't exactly have uniforms for men in the Register so you'll have to make due. Here…"

The head supplier then took out some sort of vest with pads on it and the blonde had no trouble recognizing what was for since there were two fleshy looking orbs on the front. He looked at Gascogne and spoke.

"Let me guess, I'm supposed to wear this so I would have a woman's bust right?"

"Yep, look, you might not like it, and I doubt you'd ever agree to wearing the outfit but since you're here, you are under my command so you'll have to dress the way my girls dress."

Naruto smirked and realized that this was going to work to his advantage after all, it was about time he found a more…PRACTICAL use for one of his personal Jutsu. He took the uniform from Gascogne and he spoke.

"Fair enough, I've done far worse than wearing a dress after all so I am used to doing things most men would be adamant in avoiding, give me a minute."

"You're going to need the vest you know…"

"Don't bother Gascogne-san, I have a plan."

The head supplier raised her eyebrow at that and wondered just what was the blonde male planning, she expected him to adamantly refuse ever wearing a woman's outfit. But for some reason or another, the blonde didn't seem all that bothered and as much as she didn't want to say it out loud, she had a feel that whatever Naruto had in mind was going to be rather shocking. She didn't have to wait for long as Naruto came back now in the dress.

Gascogne had to admit that seeing the dress on a woman was all right, but on a man, it was hardly stellar. However Naruto then smirked as he did some sort of position with his fingers and she asked.

"What are you doing?"

"Just getting into character, I have to work with an all female crew and I have to dress as a woman, so I might as well LOOK like a woman."

"Huh? What do you…?"

Gascogne had no chance to finish her question as Naruto shouted out the technique.

"OIROKE NO JUTSU!"

The smoke surprised Gascogne for a moment or so and when it cleared, her eyes widened at the sight.

Naruto was there, but he…had turned into a SHE! Before the head supplier was a woman who was at the same height Naruto was but had longer hair in a pair of long ponytails and had an undeniably mature and sexy female look. The…whatever the blonde had turned into before her filled out the dress quite nicely and it looked to be downright perfect as well. The chest area had a bust that was equal or a bit larger than Jura's own and she was seen as the most endowed one in the Nirvana in terms of the bust department followed by Buzam and Barnette. The only that remained constant were the whisker marks on the cheeks.

The transformed male turned around in the dress and showed a figure that would have made even Jura green with envy, along with a large number of women as well. Naruto in his transformed state placed his left had on his hip and did a provocative pose and blew a kiss and spoke in a very much female voice that was older and spoke of maturity and sexuality.

"How's this Gascogne-san?"

Naruto had perfected the Oiroke No Jutsu as he had never gotten rid of it for any reason and it had changed along with him, the female form became better proportioned and had a much more female voice. It had proven to be something to pass the time well and while Sakura was around to keep him from using it, he did have time to use it on more than one instance.

Gascogne was flabbergasted as she looked at Naruto from head to toe and after a moment or two, she finally got her thoughts together and spoke out to the blonde before her.

"How did you do that?"

"Oh, you mean turn into this? It's just a Jutsu I personally made in my free time as a kid. I figured that since I have to work with women it would be weird if I have to look like a man in a dress so why not turn into a woman instead?"

The head supplier moved forward and was tempted to touch to see if it was all real and Naruto saw than and replied.

"Go ahead, it's all natural Gascogne-san, nothing fake about it."

Gascogne did so and soon found to her shock that the blonde's disguise was actually feeling very real. The blonde Shinobi grinned and had to admit that taking this form was actually a very good move as it made things less stressful for him. His time in perfecting the Jutsu he had made for himself just for kicks had made every part of his female disguise had made it all feel very real. Once the head supplier was done seeing the fact that Naruto's disguise was very much the real deal, she looked at Naruto with an utterly stunned expression.

"There's nothing fake at all, how did you do that?"

Naruto grinned even more and merely replied with a cheeky reply in his now female voice.

"That is a secret; let's just say that at least you won't have to worry about the fact that you have a man in your staff."

Gascogne couldn't help but agree with that assessment, whatever technique this self proclaimed Shinobi could do to take the form of a woman was pretty damn good. She did wonder just how the others in her staff were going to handle the new addition to their roster.

…

Later…

Jura, Barnette, and Meia came into the room and the aqua haired girl wondered just how the blonde male Shinobi was dealing with the new working conditions. And while most would consider her actions as nothing more than petty and not really worthwhile, she felt otherwise and hoped that this would be enough to take the man down to a peg. As for Barnette and Jura, they wondered just what the man was doing in the Register and if it was going to be funny in some fashion or another in Barnette's mind.

Imagine to their surprise when they find a new face in the Register who was female and had a figure that made Jura's own figure look a bit lacking. The female was a blonde woman who had her hair in two ponytails and she filled the uniform of the Register quite nicely. The woman was currently working in the supply section and seemed to be talking with Gascogne. The only thing they noted which was a bit odd was the fact that the woman had three marks on her face, which didn't actually make her ugly in any sense, but actually give her a more….exotic appearance.

They walked over to Gascogne and Meia spoke to the head supplier.

"Gasco, where is that blonde male named Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki who I sent here to work with you and the others here in the Register? And who is this one? I don't recall you having any new members in the staff before we left the base on the raid."

The three looked at the blonde woman who seemed to be smirking at them, Jura and Barnette had to admit that this new arrival was certainly an attractive one though there seemed to be no name tag on her uniform. As for Meia, she wondered just where the arrogant blonde male had gone to, she was wondering if the man had just decided to make life miserable for her again by taking a chance to leave, if she were to ever find him.

Gascogne then replied.

"That Naruto guy is here…only…he…uh, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it."

Meia was confused by that and made that confusion clear in her next question.

"What do you mean by that?"

It was then that the new woman spoke in a very amused tone.

"What Miss Gascogne-san is saying is that I am right here Meia-chan, only I took a more female appearance, how is your posterior feeling by the way? Still stinging you or something? I can find a way to make it feel better if you like?"

Meia was utterly confused and looking at the new woman as if she had lost her mind, while Jura and Barnette were even more confused by this and wondered just what was the woman talking about. As far as the two friends knew, no one else in the crew acted this way towards Meia before, let alone call her that way of all things.

It was then that the woman spoke once more with an amused expression.

"Come on Meia-chan, you should be able to recognize me well enough, after all, you've already seen my birthmarks when we first met in the reactor room."

Meia was still confused until a thought came to her mind, she quickly considered that train of thought to be outright ludicrous as there was no way that such a thing was possible. But still, it was the only thing that can come close to making sense, and she kept in mind that since she knew that Naruto could make copies of himself, there was no telling what else he was capable of.

"Is that you Naruto?"

The woman grinned even more and replied.

"You got it Meia-chan, it's me."

The three women couldn't help but look at the disguised male with absolute shock as they were still trying to figure out just how he had turned from a man to a woman. As for the blonde male in question, he was enjoying himself a good deal right now as the looks were too funny for him to resist looking at.

Meia then looked at Gascogne and spoke.

"How did he?"

Gascogne shrugged and replied.

"Beats me Meia, I'm still trying to figure out exactly how he did it, all I know is that he went into the changing room, got into the dress, and then did something with his hands and after an explosion of smoke later, he came out like this and called it a Jutsu or something."

This really got Meia on edge as she looked at the still grinning…man…woman…whatever Naruto turned into and couldn't help but feel rather disturbed.

Naruto saw that and replied.

"If you think this is fake, then touch it, it's all natural."

Meia blushed at the thought of doing that in the Register of all places, Jura and Barnette on the other hand were not that particular and began to touch the now female Naruto who grinned at their actions, and both the blonde and emerald haired women were shocked to see that he was not joking, it was all natural. As soon as they moved their hands away, Jura spoke out in wonder and a bit of shock.

"How in the name of Grand Ma did you turn into a woman?"

The blonde replied to that.

"Follow me into the changing room, I'll get into my old outfit and you'll see."

The three women did so and followed Naruto into the room in question. Naruto then got into the changing room and after a moment or two, the blonde was back into his own clothes, and when he came out, the three women had to admit that even if it he was in his normal outfit, the disguise he had as a woman made him look very…different. They watched as Naruto then placed his fingers into a position and then spoke out one word that was accompanied by a small explosion of smoke.

"KAI!"

As soon as the smoke cleared, all three Dread pilots were surprised to find that before them was Naruto once more, only this time he was very much a male. They were trying to figure out how he had turned from male to female like that while the blonde still continued to smirk, naturally annoying the same woman who had sent him into the Register in the first place.

Meia finally lost her patience and spoke out.

"How the heck did you do that?"

Naruto snickered at the look of fury in Meia's face, looks like his chance to turn it all around worked big time and she was trying to figure out what to do in a situation like this.

"I did say I am not from Talark already when we first met Meia-chan, besides, it's going to look borderline weird for a man to work in an all female place while wearing a dress after all, so I decided to use one of my Jutsu to at least look like a woman so it would not be so weird. Why are you so upset about it Meia-chan?"

Meia glared at the blonde who was still grinning and she couldn't help herself as she felt as if her plan to show him his place was ruined. After all, she was hoping that having him wear women's' clothing would have done the trick and then having him do the cleaning of toilets and mopping floors would have evened things up as well. But it seemed that Naruto had found a way to make her planned punishment lose it's bite. She however took solace in the fact that he was no longer going to be interfering in the operations of the Dreads from here on out. With that salving her wounded pride, she moved out but not before glaring at Naruto and leaving. But not before Naruto decided to rub in a bit of humor to the whole thing.

"By the way Meia-chan, I forgot to tell you something, you look very attractive when you're angry and you've got a nice butt when you move like that."

Meia glared even more and couldn't help but actually blush a bit, much to Naruto's growing amusement as she finally stomped off, leaving the blonde alone as he laughed his own butt off while Jura and Barnette looked at the blonde male, still trying to figure out what to make of him.

…

As the days passed the ship by, Naruto continued to work in the Register, and soon it was fairly obvious that Meia's attempt to show Naruto his place didn't work out the way she expected. Naruto was no stranger to manual labor and therefore was quite used to it. After all, he worked in helping rebuild Konoha more than once, cleaned his own home, and cleaned up the results of his pranks back when he was a kid and defacing the Hokage monument.

This was why he maintained a cheerful and confident demeanor that surprised a number of people and he did so in his female disguise, the only people who knew that the new crew member was actually the blonde Shinobi were Jura, Barnette, Meia, and Gascogne though eventually Magno found out about the whole thing. The elderly Captain managed to speak to the young blonde and after figuring out that he did this to make it less shocking to the crew as well as tease Meia, she had to admit that it seemed to work.

Whenever Meia was about and Naruto was, the disguised blonde would wink at Meia and smirk, further angering and flustering the Dread pilot and there was not much she could do about it. Since it seemed that no else knew that Naruto had taken a very realistic female disguise, there was no way she could hit him since doing so would have made things really awkward for her, so she had no way of countering the blonde Shinobi when he began flirting and teasing her when they met, especially in public where the others would gossip, adding an even sharper edge to Naruto's teasing and flirting with her.

This was something that really grated on Meia's nerves and the only salve she had was that in the battles that happened in the span of the days after assigning the blonde male to the Register, Naruto was not around to upstage the Dread pilots and she began to see that they didn't need his help in fighting the enemy and kept that frame of thought for a while. Naruto could see that but that hardly bothered him as he knew eventually the enemy was going to throw a new weapon that would require him to be in the group once more, so in the meantime, he might as well do a good job for his new boss Gascogne, who he found to be rather civil and very friendly and a good card player.

As for Gascogne, she didn't mind having the blonde around, Naruto proved to be a hard worker and very dedicated when the time came for some sweat to be shed. Since he was a real man underneath the disguise and the dress, he was not bothered by the things that would bother the normal female crew and did his all to make sure that he was not being idle. This told Gascogne that the blonde was no stranger to hard work and when she told him about something important, he managed to grasp it well and do it as best he could. He was not adverse to asking for help either from her or the others in the crew, showing to her that he was not self centered or thinking that he could do things on his own.

Not to mention the fact she now found herself a very good opponent in cards, Naruto's luck was very strong as Gascogne had found herself losing more than once before the blonde, but she gave back as good as she got and won a number of hands when they played against one another. The two became good friends over the game and Naruto's hard work in the Register though he helped every now and then in his normal form and his normal clothes.

All in all, he was not half bad, and she made this clear in one time when he was back in his real form and his outfit and off for another round of ramen courtesy of Dita.

"You know, for a man who can disguise himself like a woman, you're not half bad as a worker."

Naruto laughed a bit at that and replied.

"No problem."

"If I didn't know any better, you've done stuff like this before."

"That's true, I'm not adverse to doing those things since I've done it before, anyway, I have to go now Gascogne-san."

As Naruto left, Gascogne shook her head and tried not to laugh as she recalled just what Naruto pulled whenever he was there before Meia, and she had to admit that seeing Meia get angry yet not being able to fight back was a little amusing. Still she hoped that both Naruto and Meia would one day work together and hopefully that would show to Meia that working with someone, even if it is a man is a good thing.

…

Gascogne had no idea that the event she hoped for was about to come right at them.

…

The Nirvana was still on it's mission to head back to the system that had both Talark and Megele but then they were forced to stop as a large force of the aliens they now marked as the Harvesters were now before them all. There were a number of Cube Fighters, a pair of the now designated Seed Ships and one massive looking ship that seemed to be a mass of globes with one massive eye in the middle. The Dreads were soon out and things were about to get interesting, Bart was ordered to get into the Navigation Well and Duero was called in to be ready to receive casualties.

Naruto looked at the force while he was in the register, this time wearing his normal clothes and in his real form as he had been there in the place during a game with Gascogne. The blonde looked seriously at the force, but reserved all of his attention on the new ship. He had never seen it before during the previous attacks and he had a sneaking suspicion that this was what the Harvesters were cooking up with the intelligence they had been gathering.

"That new ship of theirs…I don't like it, and it's got nothing to do with appearances."

"What do you mean exactly?"

Naruto looked at Gascogne and replied.

"That's a new addition to their arsenal, and I've got a feeling it was made for a purpose, what that is I have no idea, but I've got a feeling that whatever it is built for, none of us is going to like it."

…

And sure enough, that was proven true as soon as the Dreads attacked, the pilots were used to fighting the Cube Fighters and even the Seed Ships as they knew just what the two ship types were able to do and what they could not do. But the new ship utterly surprised them as it unleashed several numbers of spines that were all over it's form, they became jagged and bent and looked like a sea urchin.

Jura commented on the ugliness, but the Harvesters seemed to care little for aesthetics and that appearance had a purpose as the jagged spines rendered missile attacks useless as they took the brunt of the attack and even deflected the missiles allowing the ship to remain intact, it also unleashed waves of spines like rockets, and it's speed was unreal as it evaded even Meia's Dread despite it's speed both before and after it was boosted by the Paeksis transforming it.

This went on for some time and the Cube Fighters were quick to use this to their advantage to attack the pirates in conjunction with the urchin ship, attacking both the Dread Squadrons and the pirate ship. Bart cried out in pain as the damage was shown with several gashes on his arm due to the link between him and the ship.

Barnette quickly commented as she managed to take out some Cube Fighters.

"This is bad! If we don't take out that ship of theirs we're done for!"

Jura then replied.

"That might be true, but there seems to be no way we can hit that thing! Everything we fire at it, it either evades or blocks! Unless we get rid of those ugly spines, we can't touch it! And those Cube Fighters aren't making things easy either!"

Dita then cried out.

"Maybe we should get Mr. Alien out here?"

Meia was quick to shoot down that idea.

"No! What have I told you about relying on others?"

"But he's a good alien and one of the crew now Leader!"

"We don't need his help! He is a man and still our enemy! We can beat this thing on our own!"

Meia gritted her teeth as she shot down several Cube Fighters and tried to take out that ship and thought about what Dita said concerning a certain blonde Shinobi.

(I WILL NOT ASK A MAN FOR HELP! I REFUSE TO ASK FOR HELP! NAMELY FROM THAT ONE!)

Meia's pride in her abilities and that of her fellow pirates was not unfounded and not without merit, but this time, this pride was soon going to be more of a liability than an asset.

…

In the bridge…

Buzam looked at the situation and spoke.

"This is bad, that ship of the Harvesters seems to have been built to counter the Dreads specifically, those spines can be as shooting weapons en masse and as defenses to counter missiles, the Dreads can't even hit it with beams since it's too fast and those Cube Fighters as well as the Seed Ships are not making it easy either."

Magno nodded.

"It seems that Naruto was right about the Harvesters when I spoke to him a few days ago, their attacks from before were merely to gather data on us and what we can do and not do, this is the result of their gathering of data."

"If we don't find a way to even up the odds soon, we are in serious trouble."

…

Gascogne powered up her personal shuttle the Dreki, a heavily armored supply and recovery ship used by them and the Megele Navy to reload Dreads in battle while shielding them with it's heavy armor plating, and also for recovering pilot pods from badly damaged or lost Dreads when the pilots abandoned them. Along with her was Naruto who sat down and did his best to help. They had been given the signal that several Dreads were running low on power and ordnance and needed to be resupplied which was why they were now on the way after being fully loaded by the girls at the Register.

As soon as they were out, Naruto as they were soon able to meet several of the Dreads, namely Jura and Dita's Dreads as well as Barnette's own Dread. Naruto watched as Gascogne quickly worked her magic and soon the Dreads were being re-armed and refueled for combat, their missiles were replenished while their energy weapons were fully charged and fuel added to their engines.

The four girls were relaxed and Dita was the most vocal of the ending of the Transfer as soon as Gascogne told them that they were fully fueled and ready to go back into the battle.

"I'm so full!"

Instantly the Dreads were released back into the fray as the Dreki's armor held the line against the attacks from both the Space Urchin and the Cube Fighters that tried to destroy it. Naruto however, relying on his near sixty years of knew that no matter how many times the Dreads would be revitalized for combat, they would not make much difference if that urchin like vessel was destroyed.

He directed his attention to Gascogne and spoke about that matter seriously.

"No matter how many times the Dreads are rearmed Gascogne-san, they are ineffective against something like that ship. It's been made to counter them specifically after all."

The head supplier nodded and then replied with a smile.

"That's true Naruto, which is why I had my girls load a surprise into the Dreki before we took off to do this job, I believe it will make the tide turn in this battle, see for yourself."

Naruto did so and looked at the monitor and after a second or two smiled and replied.

"You are a saint Gascogne-san."

Gascogne smiled and watched as Naruto moved to the area of the Dreki to get what she showed him, she wanted to see just what else this young man was going to show in this battle, apart from what she had seen already.

…

The Dreads were still fighting hard, even though they had cut down many of the Harvesters Cube Fighters, the Seed Ships were well protected by the others and by the Space Urchin, allowing them to reinforce it and their surviving units, if this kept up, they would be in serious trouble and without any support, they were done for.

It was then that they noticed something, the Dreki had not left the scene and Barnette commented on that.

"What is Gascogne doing here still? She needs to get back to the Nirvana and resupply the Dreki before coming back out here."

Jura nodded and replied.

"You're right, maybe there's a package she had not delivered?"

Before the others could answer what it was, the Dreki's cargo bay door opened and out came a very familiar Vanguard. The black and blue colored Vanguard quickly gets out from the Dreki and fires both Chakra chains and catches two passing Cube Fighters and used both Cube Fighters like weights. The first Fighter was sent smashing into several Cube Fighters and when that happened and the Cube Fighter was released, the blonde unleashed a barrage of energy shuriken into them, destroying them quickly and effectively.

The second Cube Fighter that Naruto caught with the second Chakra Chain was send smashing into another bunch of Cube Fighters, but instead of releasing the captured unit, Naruto reeled himself in at high speed with his Vanguard using one of it's swords and quickly cut that fighter down and then took out the other sword and quickly moved to cut down more of the Cube Fighters in close combat and in combination with the chakra blades to extend the reach of his weapons.

Naruto spotted the Cube Fighters and their supporting Seed Ships and knew that in order to relieve the pressure on the pirates, those units had to be taken out permanently. But he knew that attacking the Cube Fighters alone was not going to be enough. With the Seed Ships making more of them every chance they had, the only way to end their numbers was the Seed Ships and he needed to terminate all of them in some fashion, and he already had an idea.

Naruto focused his chakra and hoped that this would work as he summoned the chakra, saw his Vanguard react to his implanting of the chakra into the systems and then unleashed his technique.

"KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!"

In that exact moment, Naruto's Vanguard glowed with power and then large orbs of light speared around the lone Vanguard and soon expanded to take humanoid form and then exploded in clouds of light to reveal several more copies of the Paeksis enhanced Vanguard. These new arrivals completely caught the Harvesters as well as the pirates off guard. Naruto's Vanguard was now surrounded by twenty other copies of it. The new Vanguards went on the offensive with the original; ten were wielding swords while the other ten unleashed their energy shuriken for long range support.

…

Meia and Jura, as well as Barnette and the other pilots in the Dread Squadrons looked on in shock, with the Dread Squadron leader being the most shocked as she had thought that Naruto was only able to make these…'Kage Bunshin' when he was not in his Vanguard.

Gascogne nodded in approval while Dita was awed once more of the power that Naruto had shown to them.

"WOW! MR. ALIEN IS SO COOL!"

In the Nirvana, Buzam was silent for a moment until she recovered and spoke.

"So…his Vanguard is able to work with that Kage Bunshin technique as well, that is a serious advantage."

Magno nodded at that.

"I agree, he can literally create an army on the move, he really is an interesting young man, and I must admit, considering what we've seen so far, having in the crew was a very wise move than we first thought."

…

Naruto guided his Vanguard as he and his massive Kage Bunshin force began to unleash hell on the Harvesters as many Cube Fighters were being cut down, those who were able to avoid the attacks from the swords of the blonde Shinobi's Vanguard and it's Kage Bunshin were destroyed by the energy shuriken of the other Kage Bunshin who supported those in the front. The Harvesters managed to down a small number of the Vanguard sized Kage Bunshin, but they learned quickly that these were merely illusions, but with substance.

The blonde however sensed that making the Vanguard sized Kage Bunshin was going to be too taxing and so he summoned the purified chakra of the Kyuubi once more from the now fully secured place where he stored it for the past forty to nearly fifty years. The chakra flowed through him and he soon empowered his Vanguard Kage Bunshin as well as the original and began to take out the rest of the Cube Fighters that sought to take him out. The blonde closed the gap and attacked the Seed Ships, he quickly ordered his Kage Bunshin to herd the Seed Ships into one massive cluster in order to hit them all at once in a pincer move.

The strategy was risky to the extreme, but it was better than nothing as the blonde continued to press the attack as he and his Vanguards alternated their attack methods to further confuse the Harvesters and as soon as the Seed Ships were now in position, Naruto quickly summoned his Rasenshuriken, using as much chakra as he could to make the Rasenshuriken large and powerful, the other Kage Bunshin, being fed the blonde's purified Kyuubi Chakra did the same.

Soon the surviving Kage Bunshin and the original Vanguard were carrying a wide number of massive Rasenshuriken and when those were ready, the force made by Naruto unleashed the attacks and soon those Rasenshuriken smashed hard into the massed Harvester units. Naruto decided to disperse his Kage Bunshin and all the Vanguard sized Kage Bunshin faded away in explosions of light. Their attacks however could not be countered as the Seed Ships were turned into exploding ruins as the numerous Rasenshuriken expanded, engulfing the Seed Ships and destroyed them all in one fell swoop.

…

The battle was no longer in the favor of the Harvesters, with the Seed Ships and a massive number of their Cube Fighters now reduced to nothing but debris, this left only the Urchin vessel as the last Harvester weapon as the Dread Squadrons were quick to kill the last remaining Cube Fighters who could no longer be reinforced and then they directed their attention to the Space Urchin. But it was hardly giving up as it was still fighting the Dreads and also attacking the Vanguard piloted by the Shinobi.

Naruto studied the unit and realized that in a way this was similar to how two people he knew well had fought the first time they met. His fellow Konoha ninja and friend Tenten was one of the best weapon users in Konoha and never missed a target with any weapon. However when she fought with his future wife Temari, her attacks were rendered useless due to Temari's skills and use of her Iron War Fan which worked as both shield and weapon. Unless her weapon was taken away from her and she was attacked at close range, Temari was not easy to defeat if she had the advantage in the battle before her.

The same situation was before him with this Space Urchin as it was capable of countering most attacks thrown at it by the Dreads with both missiles and beams with spines for the former and it's speed for the latter.

Close combat was a possible option once the spines were taken out of the way, but the only way to do that was with his Vanguard and even with the speed his Vanguard had, the Space Urchin was faster than his Vanguard so they needed range and not just long range firepower, but overwhelming long range firepower to bypass the defensive abilities of the Space Urchin, and that meant only one option.

Naruto quickly spoke to the speakers and tried to get in touch with a certain red haired Dread pilot.

"Dita-chan! We need to combine to form our VanDread for us to end this threat! I need your help!"

The redhead was more than willing to do just that and being asked for help by Naruto made her feel very happy as she guided her Dread to merge with the Vanguard. However, the Harvester's last unit realized that while it could counter the missiles of the Dreads, it stood no chance against the energy cannons of the VanDread it's makers had faced before.

It soon attacked the two machines, hoping to not only stop the fusion of the two machines but also stop them cold. It's spines were fired at the Dread. But Dita was protected as Meia came in and managed to knock Dita's Dread aside before it was skewered by the Harvester attack ship. However, this move had placed her in collision course with Naruto's Vanguard and soon the two of them combined as a massive wave of light hit the area…and as soon as the light came out…something utterly new came from the fusion of the two machines.

…

Jura looked on in awe at the newly emerging machine that was the result of Naruto's Vanguard and Meia's Dread fusing together..

"Wow…."

Barnette was surprised as well as she looked at the machine.

"How?"

Dita was utterly stunned by what she saw as well.

"No way!"

The others in the Nirvana looked on in surprise as they gazed at the new VanDread. It resembled the armored knight of the VanDread Dita and Naruto's respective machines made when they fused, but it was slimmer, less heavily armored and a more aerodynamic look with several nacelles on the back which were shaped like wings and a pair glowing circles in both the palms of the hands as well as the hips on sleeker but no less armored forearm guards. It lacked the cannons of the VanDread that Dita and Naruto piloted previously but it certainly was not unarmed in any sense as no one knew just what sort of abilities this one possessed. The new Vanguard remained stationary and was colored silver grey with black and blue lining in key joint areas and glowing lines of power in them as well.

Bart spoke out at this.

"That Shinobi never seems to run out of tricks."

Buzam looked at the new mecha and spoke.

"This is unexpected, we may win this battle yet Captain."

Magno nodded and gave a slight smile as she looked at the new VanDread.

"Maybe, but the real question now lies before us BC. Can those two who pilot that new miracle work together?"

…

Inside the new VanDread…

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Meia cried out in outrage and confusion as she now found herself being joined by Naruto himself and in a rather…undignified position to boot. When she tried to recover and move forward, she felt something on her front and opened her eyes, only to find herself leaning towards the back of the one man who both confused and infuriated her in equal intolerable measure. She naturally reacted and tried to force the man out of the cockpit which was just as well spaced as her Dread's cockpit and seemed to have not changed in the slightest.

Naruto turned and looked in surprise to find Meia her right behind him, he reacted the very second he felt something soft, or rather two soft things press into his back and he couldn't help but wonder just what was going on here. He however cringed at the way Meia was shouting at him, while he could understand her reaction, her need to raise the sound level in the cockpit was hardly something he would welcome and that was why he decided to shout back a bold move, but better than nothing at this point.

"STOP SHOUTING IN MY EARS!"

The two were pretty much not in the best of moods though despite his own growing temper, another part of Naruto's mind was once more playing the role of randy rabbit at the way they were currently sitting in the cockpit of what apparently was a VanDread. However, Meia was having none of it, it was hard enough to know that the man who infuriated her had come to save them once more, but now they were in this situation.

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR HELP! SO GET OUT!"

"IN CASE IT ESCAPED YOUR ATTENTION, WE"RE IN SPACE! WHERE EXACTLY AM I SUPPOSED TO GO?"

Naruto however spotted the Space Urchin coming right for them at high speed and no doubt ready to take advantage of their distraction. He wasted no time and managed to move the VanDread to the side, but realized that the machine was only operating on half power, and no doubt it needed him to be supported by Meia.

That was enough to make him speak to the still angry blue haired woman seriously.

"We don't have time for this Meia-chan, if we don't hurry up, that thing and it's masters will win, and we lose. I can move this VanDread but it won't respond just to me alone, I need your help and I need it now."

That stopped Meia cold and looked at Naruto with disbelief in her eyes and spoke out.

"You're asking for my help?"

"Yes I am, you think just because I'm a man that I won't ask for help when I need it to save my pride? Then you are wrong, asking for help when things are at their worst is not a sign of weakness, it is showing that you are willing to work with others to achieve the greater goal. I didn't learn all these skills on my own you know, I had help and I never turned down aid at all if I knew that it was needed."

"I don't care if you hate me or not because I'm a man, because that thing out there doesn't care at all, it is the enemy and I KNOW that I can't defeat it alone, so I am asking for your help here and now! Will you help me?"

Meia looked at Naruto and saw that he was serious, he needed her help and didn't hesitate to ask it without any malice or ill intent, this further confused her but she knew he was right, neither of them could defeat this thing alone, if they worked together now, they might have a chance. With that in her mind, she moved her hands and replied.

"I will, but don't think that I am going to forget how much I still dislike you Naruto."

The blonde smiled and nodded as he began to move in time with Meia.

…

The very second both Meia and Naruto began to work as one, the VanDread which was once moving slowly suddenly came to full life and quickly moved with a speed that defied imagination as it streaked out at a speed that made all the other Dreads look like they were crawling at a snail's pace. The VanDread's acceleration completely caught the alien ship off guard and it tried to fire it's spines at it, but the weapons missed as the VanDread dodged them though it stopped in doing so, the Urchin Ship managed to make more spines and fire ,hoping the second barrage would kill the new VanDread.

The VanDread however countered that attack by moving it's arms forward and opened it's palms and then fired out a barrage of energy shuriken which were larger and fired faster than the previous energy shuriken that the Vanguard Naruto piloted was capable of firing from before.

In that moment, the two barrages slammed into each other with the shuriken winning as they cut through the spines and destroyed them on impact. The VanDread then unleashed four chakra chains from it's hands and the forearm guards to catch four of the spines and then use them to attack the Urchin Ship which managed to replace it's lost spines like before. The VanDread used the spines like bladed weights and smashed those captured spines hard into the enemy and then moving at high speed once more.

The Urchin Ship tried to evade until the VanDread fired a kunai made of energy that seemed to glow in a different color than the previous ones it had fired at the Urchin Ship, the Harvester was able to dodge this and fire out another barrage of spines at the VanDread to end it's threat once and for all, but then the VanDread actually teleported out of sight and appeared right behind the Urchin Ship.

This surprised every member of the pirates as Barnette spoke out.

"I can't believe it! Not only does it have such speed and acceleration…but it was the ability to actually teleport itself!"

Jura looked on with stars in her eyes as she spoke.

"Wow! Meia is SO lucky!"

…

Naruto wasted no time as he focused his chakra, unaware of the fact that Meia felt the effects of the chakra he was releasing, while it was his normal chakra it was flowing out of him faintly and affecting Meia who had to lean to him in order to manipulate the controls with her hands as well as her feet. She had no idea why was it that her body seemed to tingle for some reason or another and she ignored the slight glow in Naruto's form attributing it to the lighting in the room.

The result of Naruto feeding his chakra was obvious when the sphere of the Rasengan appeared and soon took the form of the Rasenshuriken , he was about to throw it but instead the Mecha actually charged right at the Urchin ship and it's nacelles unleash a massive burst of speed and power. The VanDread suddenly glowed with power as the lines that were there in the body that flowed with power were now acting up. It was not long before the VanDread was soon overcome by the Rasenshuriken which expanded and was soon covered by a giant Rasenshuriken and smashed hard into the enemy ship. The ship was intact for a moment or two as the Rasenshuriken covered VanDread moved away with considerable speed and when it turned, the Rasenshuriken faded away and left the VanDread totally intact.

The Urchin Ship however was not so lucky as it was soon falling apart in slivers, showing that the massive Rasenshuriken had cut it severely and at the molecular level. It was not long before the now sliced apart Urchin Ship began to explode and soon it was joining it's slain comrades as debris as the new VanDread was looking over the ruins.

The victory went to the pirates in this round.

Magno and Buzam relaxed a lot more as they gave the order for the Dread Squadrons to head back into the Nirvana and get back to rest and recover as well. The elderly captain wondered just what else was going to happen on their journey back to the home system of both their world and that of the men of Talark.

…

Inside the VanDread, Meia panted a bit as she leaned back while Naruto was in a calming trance, something he learned from his Godfather Jiraiya in his training days with the Pervy Sage and recovered nicely. He opened his eyes and looked at Meia, he quickly managed to get his perverted side from getting any funny ideas considering the rather…suggestive way Meia leaned back.

(Geez…I just spent a half minute shouting at her, and now…I want to do things to her so I can be sure that the next time she shouts out, it will be because of another reason entirely, Damn hormones…)

"You all right Meia-chan?"

The girl panted and looked at him and spoke.

"I…am fine…"

"Good. We should get moving…"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you ask for my help?"

"It's obvious…I already knew I couldn't beat that thing alone with it's speed and it's weapons so I asked for your help, just like I did ask for Dita's help before when we needed to use ranged firepower to take that thing out. Like I said before, asking for help is not a weakness. If I have to work with you even with your issues towards me to do what I can to do the mission, I will do so without a moment of hesitation. We're fighting to survive so it doesn't matter if we're men or women at all, we HAVE to work together. "

The blonde then grinned as he replied.

"Besides…it was kind of cool working with you when we're not trying to anger each other, but still, I like it when you get angry or embarrassed Meia-chan, since you still look attractive in both states."

Before Meia could retaliate, the VanDread glowed and soon they were back to their original machines and Naruto sped off to head back to the Nirvana, leaving the blue haired woman even more confused as well as angry, she also wanted to know why was it she felt something stir in her when she accidentally pressed herself into his back.

(Naruto…you…argh!)

…

Dita pouted and spoke out as she guided her Dread back to the Nirvana.

"No fair! Mr. Alien's only supposed to combine with me!"

Jura on the other hand came to a realization, she knew that her Dread had also been affected by the Paeksis before and had been also transformed by it to be better than it was when it was still a regular Dread. This meant that if she did the same thing with Naruto's Vanguard…

"Maybe I can make something elegant and powerful too….hmmm, that would be nice. But how do I convince Naruto to combine with me?"

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay in this chapter, I decided to squeeze in both episode 3 and 4of the anime to change the pace while removing some elements of the story and replaced them with my own original scenes to add some personal flavor to the story and not follow canon too closely. It's been some time since I looked at the VanDread series so I am a bit rusty to say the least.

Not too original, I'll admit to that, but I had a load of laughs cooking the many new scenes up, and I know that making Naruto a bit childish when it comes to food is a bit much, but what did you expect after being stuck on an all male planet where the primary foodstuffs there were nutrient pills?

I took the idea of him having the chance to show his Taijutsu skills as well as his Kenjutsu skills since one of you, my reviewers send me a message with the idea. I also thought up the idea of him also sparring with Jura in this since he does happen to have skills in using swords in combat and unlike Jen in the beginning, Jura does learn to appreciate sparing with someone who appreciates swordplay like she does.

I usually wondered why Jura carried the sword and decided to have her use it more often, namely in fighting with Naruto and this will actually help her establish a bit of a rapport with the man since he is by all rights the only sword user in the ship apart from her. I happen to be a big fan of swords so it annoys me that Jura's carrying the thing and rarely gets to use it in a more serious setting, and it galled me when it was thought she shaves her legs with the darn thing.

A rapier for shaving your legs…weird…

Who knows, she might even develop a liking to the blonde Shinobi, though that might take a bit of time and effort after the whole Register incident with the Oiroke No Jutsu.

…

I decided to upgrade the Oiroke No Jutsu and find a use for it in this chapter just for the sake of some laughs, and besides, being forced to work in an all female workplace, looking and sounding like a woman is a good thing. This trumps out Hibiki's works by a mile in my personal opinion, and I borrowed a few ideas from several anime, comic, and game ladies, namely Mai Shiranui from KOF, Ivy of Soul Calibur, Emma Frost of X-Men, Felicia Hardy and Mary Jane Watson of Spiderman, and Rangiku Matsumoto of Bleach as well as Tsunade Senju of Naruto herself.

They each were used to help me improve the Oiroke No Jutsu as I looked at their body shapes and took the best from all of them and threw it into the stew pot to mix with Naruto's Oiroke No Jutsu.

And judging by the reactions of the women to this trick, this was worth the effort, at least to me. To you guys, I'm not so sure, feel free to comment when you can okay?

On a side note…I was listening to Kesha's Tik Tok song when I was thinking of how Naruto's Oiroke No Jutsu would look in the Register outfit, it's a bit much but I liked it.

…

As you have read, the Dragon Vanguard that Hibiki and Meia made in the original VanDread is out and replaced with a more unique model. It is human in form but is more agile and less armored than VanDread Dita. I blended the features of both the original VanDreads which were first seen in the anime and fused the elements of the two and discarded the bird like design of the original for a more human design. It does incorporate speed and power of Meia's original VanDread but has the human design of Dita's original VanDread but without the cannons and the heavier armor.

It has some long range weapons such as the energy shuriken and kunai though they are fired at a much faster rate and cannot be thrown. It can fire more chakra chains than Naruto's Vanguard which at the moment is limited to firing only two, and has the ability to launch specially marked kunai that can give it short range teleportation abilities in line with the Flying Thunder God Technique of Minato Namikaze in battle. And it can use the close combat variant of the Rasenshuriken to separate it from the original but it does not cause severe damage to either the machine or to Naruto and Meia and can be covered by the Rasenshuriken to further improve it's power in high speed attacks.

Hope that this model is not too bad or too new to be considered junk, but I personally like it and hope that it will pass the test of time in this story.

…

See you in the next chapter!


	5. Desert Surprise

VanDread: The Fox

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to VanDread or Naruto so don't ask me if I do…

Chapter 4

Desert Surprise…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Nirvana…

Naruto was busy getting himself out of bed and yawning once more and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, usually he would not have bothered waking up. But he had to before his dreams begin to get a little too steamy for his own good. Ever since being on this ship full of females every dream he was having was already showing him all manner of images concerning him and…

(Agggh…I need a cold shower right now.)

The blonde got himself out of the bed and headed to the shower and managed to get a good deal of his clothing off as well as his boxers. And soon he was now taking a very long and cold shower. He would have preferred to get a hot shower to get his limbs in proper working order, but if he did, then he would be relaxed and that would allow his…

(Damn it…I'm already in the same age as the Old Man and the Pervy Sage, but I still feel, Kami I swear I need to find some relief and soon. NO! DON'T THINK THAT!)

Naruto swore that he was going to lose his cool and the cold water was more than enough to wake him out of his fantasies before things got too steamy.

It took a while and he decided that after a cold shower, he might as well drop by the Hanger Bay and see if he could get some work done and keep himself occupied. The sooner he got his energy burned out the less energy he would have to think about those ladies. Though he knew that was going to have a fight on his hands if he was going to take that path for sure.

…

In the Hanger…

Naruto sighed a bit as he looked over the systems of his Vanguard while carrying a screw driver with a number of the tools he would use being in a tool box on one side of the Vanguard. He was happy that he took the time to do this work in order to get his mind working on other things and the work also helped him find any possible kinks in the Vanguard's overall systems and more besides. And with his hands working, he was not going to have much energy to allow himself to start thinking about the wrong things when he needed to keep himself focused on other matters. Besides that, he had to keep in mind that he had to make sure that he was not going to get himself in trouble with the crew, he could flirt with them, but until they got used to being around men, they were off limits.

The blonde Hokage began to wonder if this was the reason he was here of all things, his great grand aunt did send him here to find something to use his talents for. And as much as his perverted side was telling him to look at it all in the different fashion, he had a feeling that there was more to what he was doing here. As soon as he was able to get most of his work done, he slowed down and began to think of himself about what he was going to do here in this ship.

(I wonder what I should be doing here? Going back to Talark is not what I have in mind, but I think I need to figure out my next steps…)

Naruto was so deep in thought that he was not aware that he was soon being joined by a certain redhead. Dita smiled as she managed to sneak on Naruto, she then moved closer, and made a gesture that sent a flying heart towards the blonde. That was more than enough to startle the blonde as he was suddenly finding himself in the floor.

The blonde Shinobi couldn't help but mentally shake his head and spoke to himself in thought.

(Damn…I got so into thinking over this that I got distracted. I have to just take it in bit by bit and make my way through it like I did when I was younger. Though I guess I need to be more patient and figure out the best solution to avoid doing something crazy.)

Naruto shook his head and opened his eyes, he quickly realized that it was a bad idea as he found himself staring right up Dita's skirt, and what he was looking at was more than enough to get his attention.

(Wow…is that red…damn, never thought she would…)

"Mr. Alien? Are you all right?"

Naruto realized quickly just what was going on and also felt his body beginning to react to the sight. He quickly got to his feet while moving a fair distance away from the redhead. He also began to focus in getting that image out of his head while trying to appear fine before the innocent woman. He liked Dita and found her to be rather nice, but that certainly didn't mean he was not attracted to her in more ways than one.

This was the hard part of knowing what it was like between men and women in all senses to the blonde's mind. Being around this many beautiful women after being deprived of female company for six months was really pulling his control to the limits at times. And what he saw underneath didn't help matters either but he managed to control his thoughts as well as his physical form.

He then realized that he should at least answer the young redhead before she thought that there was something wrong with him.

"I'm fine, I just feel the need to get something to eat."

With that out of the way, he decided to move out and get some distance between him and the redhead since he had no idea what would happen next if he remained close to her any longer than needed. This made Dita somewhat confused by what had happened, though she soon had an idea to make sure that her Mr. Alien was going to be all right.

As for Naruto, he was able to get out of the Hanger, happy that he was able to do his work on his Vanguard and also happy to get away from Dita before he got himself into more trouble. That was when he heard the announcement for the men to have the annual medical checkup and that made the blonde sigh as he knew that it was now time to got to the Medical Bay.

(Looks like that meal is going to have to wait for now.)

…

Meanwhile…

Magno looked at the image of the world below them, the Nirvana had just arrived in the area of what appeared to be a completely deserted planet. So far they were not sure what to make of the world but there had been some initial scanning and soon they found faint traces of habitation though they needed to stay near the planet to get a more accurate scan to be sure of what they had found.

"This planet looks completely dead."

Buzam nodded with the assessment as she looked at the world, but she felt that there was something there that they could learn, or even salvage.

"I agree…this world looks like it's not much at first glance, but the fact that we are getting some signals there is puzzling, we should attempt to see if there is anything we can salvage that can be used or learn if there is any data left there to salvage on that world as well."

Magno closed her eyes to think over their options concerning this world and then spoke to Buzam.

"I'm not too worried if you go down there BC, but I don't like the idea of us just dropping in there at the drop of a hat either. Let's take the time to get more data before we commit to a course of action."

Buzam nodded as she went back to looking at the image of the world below the ship, something told her that there were some answers there. But first they had to be sure before they could send a salvage and recon team to check it out. Therefore she began to take the time to plan out what their actions should be if they decide to go to the surface of the world before them.

…

In the Medical Bay…

"Pulse rate seems normal for today, though I am detecting some abnormal respiration patterns at the moment. And you seem agitated for some reason."

Naruto mentally snorted as he looked at Duero who was currently looking at the readings coming from the stick on scanner units that were in the Medical Bay. So far he was the only patient though he had just missed Ezra who had come for her annual checkup and her baby's earlier before returning back to duty on the Bridge though she was going to stop at the galley to eat something.

(If he only knew…)

Duero, unaware of the train of thought in his patient's mind decided to check Naruto's other vital signs as the blonde had stripped down to just his regular boxers. He also moved with the professionalism of a doctor to do his checking, though his hands were moving closely towards Naruto's privates. Naruto was quick to react to that as he moved away and growled in a menacing way and spoke.

"Keep those hands where I can see them!"

Duero moved his hand away and looked at Naruto to see the look of agitation on his face and recalling the blonde's dislike when men of his world were trying to ask him for his seed and the fact that he was not from Talark guessed that Naruto took his actions the wrong way. He understood that to some degree and spoke to try and placate the young man.

"I apologize, but I am meaning anything by that, I am just examining you as per my duty as the ship's physician."

Naruto glared a bit more but then relaxed himself as he knew that Duero was right in saying that he was doing his job. Still he preferred that if he ever was going to be medically examined, it was by a female nurse or a Medic Nin. And besides that, he recalled how both Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan used to heal him when he got injured on missions and how his other wives each helped him recover when he got back home.

"Sorry about that…but after dodging my fair share of your fellow men on Talark and being around so many women for the past few days, you can bet I'm a bit jumpy at the moment. It's not easy being the only man who knows things about women most men on Talark knew nothing about. No offense to present company of course."

Duero gave a slight smile and replied.

"None taken, I am rather curious about how you know so much about women though."

Naruto couldn't help but smile a bit and reply.

"Let's just say that my past travels have taught me quite a good deal, though I think it's best that you learn some things on your own as well. Women can and will surprise you in ways your government had never told you about. Better to experience some things for yourself as an old friend taught me once."

Duero nodded at that and decided to try a question.

"So tell me something about women that you're willing to share."

Naruto nodded and replied.

"For one thing, women are not monsters the way the Talark government play them out to be which you can see for yourself. But they can be really scary when they want to be or when you do something that really gets under their skin. One minute they can be kind and very good people, the next they can really make you wish you were never born. But that's what makes being around women interesting, among other things."

"What other things?"

Before the conversation could continue, Paiway appeared and pointed at the device that Duero was using on Naruto with a curious gleam in her eye.

"What's this thing? A video game?"

The Talark physician was utterly surprised by this question and wondered just how could someone who was supposed to be in the medical practice and also the pirates' chief medical officer have no idea about something as basic as a pulse meter. Despite how Megele propaganda portrayed the men to Talark, the men were not without knowledge in medicine and medical technology and with the kind of world they lived in, they had to know all they could about how to stay alive.

"You don't know what a pulse monitor is?"

The young girl looked at the man with a pout on her face and replied.

"SO what is it to you if I haven't seen one? Anyway, all medical problems can be dealt with in the Jacuzzi."

Duero looked confused by that and asked the question in his mouth.

"What's a Jacuzzi?"

Naruto however had an answer to that.

"A Jacuzzi is similar to a hot spring though a Jacuzzi is more of a special area where people go to in order to bathe in an artificial version of a hot spring, and it's done in the privacy of your own home if you're rich enough or in a public one if your kind of short on funs to have one built in your house."

Paiway looked at Naruto with some measure of surprise.

"You KNOW what a Jacuzzi is?"

The blonde looked at her and replied with some level of sarcasm in his voice.

"Just because I'm a man doesn't mean I don't know what a Jacuzzi is. Besides, I recall being to one before. Though to be perfectly honest, I personally prefer hot springs more than those Jacuzzi things since they feel more natural, even more so if it's mixed bathing day in the hot springs in question."

The young girl was even more confused and asked some more questions.

"How do you know about hot springs? And what's mixed bathing anyway?"

Naruto realized his slip of the tongue and scratched the back of his head, the last thing he wanted to do was tell an eleven year old girl who was a native of an all female planet that mixed bathing was when men and women bathed in the hot springs at the same time. Kami only knew what her reaction would be to the idea of men and women bathing together in the nude.

…

In the location in question…

"Ah, space battles always damages my hair." Jura said as she lounged on a salon chair with a towel wrapped around her head, keeping her long blonde hair from flowing out. She was naked, save for another large towel wrapped around her body. She continued to relax as several attendants were massaging her legs and there were others who were giving her a manicure and a pedicure.

"Don't worry Jura. We're here to revive your beauty." One of the attendants assured the blonde Dread pilot.

"I appreciate it. I don't feel like going into battle unless my hair is set just right."

Pyoro floated around the room and was now beside Jura, being a machine and not a man, the little automaton was allowed into the recreation center where the women relaxed as it was not a man and a machine it was hardly a problem for it to be around.

"Sometimes I just don't understand humans at all, as they make no sense."

Jura sighed as she felt her body tension melt away from the massage she was getting, she moved her head to the side and saw a hot tub where Meia soaking in it. And while she knew that Meia was not as focused in keeping her feminine looks, she was worried about her commander as she knew just what she was doing again.

"Meia, are you trying to lose more weight again?"

"Excess fat gets in the way of combat." The blue-haired girl replied to her blonde comrade's inquiry in a simple way.

"But you won't have any breasts left at that rate." Jura pointed out to her leader.

"Heh. Don't worry too much about me."

Meia wasn't as interested with maintaining her feminine appearance was her blonde comrade was. The reason was that she focused herself on more important matters than just looking pretty like her fellow Megele comrades. Besides that, she did know how to eat healthy and keep herself fit, and she was not in the mood to have a relationship with anyone so there was little reason for her to worry about looking good for another woman.

…

Meanwhile in the galley…

Dita looked at the incoming trays of food that were being shown on the conveyer belt in the galley to see which of the meals she could bring to Mr. Alien as a present of sorts to make sure that he was going to be eating right. She knew she could cook him some new meals as well but no sense not giving him a good meal to boot. She then spotted a good looking meal that she knew that Mr. Alien would like to try and quickly grabbed it with a smile on her face.

"I think I'll take this one!"

She was immediately glared at by Barnette who had intended to take the meal for herself during breakfast but could not figure out why Dita of all people would want a meal like that in her system since it was loaded with calories and she knew that Dita was not exactly the most familiar face in the Nirvana's gym area.

"Dita! That's loaded with calories! Why in the name of Grandma would you want that?"

Dita smiled and replied.

"It's not for me Barnette, he said he was not able to eat yet so I intend to give him a very good breakfast today!"

With that the young redhead moved away to get her plan into motion, much to the confusion of the green haired Dread pilot.

…

Back in the Bridge…

Buzam listened in to the incoming reports, the scanners of the Nirvana had managed to locate what appeared to be a heat source on the surface of the planet. Judging from the size of the heat source and the amount of heat being generated, there was a chance that there was settlement in the area. This meant that they could get some answers on what happened to this world and if they find no information, they could at least try and find anything that they could salvage.

However, that plan happened to have two problems, there was a sandstorm in the area and that meant that their regular drop-ship was not going to be a good choice as it was not going to do much good in such a situation like this one before them. The second and the most telling was the fact that their Dreads, while more than able to do their function as space borne fighters, were poorly suited for planetary operations. The reason was that when they were built, the Dreads were not deemed to need any means to operate in the atmosphere of a planet and if any attempt was made to drive the Dread to the surface, the Dread would be severely damaged, and the sheer weight in it added to the problem.

That left only the option of using the Vanguards, and that was something that the pirate Commander knew was going to face opposition from the women. Ever since they took over the ship, the other Vanguards with the exception of Naruto's own Vanguard was kept on the ice block. They had not been repaired and on occasion had been cannibalized for spare parts by the engineers every now and then.

Now however, they were going to be used in combat and she was more than willing to state that fact the rest of the crew.

…

As soon as he heard the announcement, Naruto couldn't help but wonder just what the results of this attempt were going to be for all parties involved.

…

In the Hanger…

Sure enough to Buzam's expectations, the selected Dread pilots who were going to take part in the mission were not too happy with having to work with the drab and ugly Vanguards. The engineering teams were working around the clock to get the Vanguards into proper working order for the mission that they were suited for, sometimes having their own cannibalized parts placed back into them.

The only concession the women had was the engineers decided to color the Vanguards to make them look more appealing, and in vibrant colors no less. Barnette however spoke at the sight and thought of having the use the Vanguards in the mission instead of her beloved Dread fighter.

"Geez, I know that we can't use our Dreads in the atmosphere and only the Vanguards can do that, but that does not mean I have to like using them."

She was naturally not alone as she was with Jura, Meia, and Dita as well, the blonde in question however couldn't help but grin as she had other things in her mind. She knew that for an operation like this, the blonde Shinobi was going to be in this mission as he was already experienced with using the Vanguards, namely his own personal Vanguard altered by the Paeksis. And that fact made her smile as she began to think about the form she would be able to make once she combined with him.

Bart attempted to make conversation and boast about being an expert on the Vanguards, but immediately got whacked on the head for his trouble when one of the platforms used by the engineering crew members to service the Vanguards for the ground mission. He left as he was reprimanded by the women in question just as Naruto appeared, he looked about and saw the gaudy colored Vanguards.

He sighed and slapped his forehead at the way the whole situation looked to him as the gaudy looks were an open invitation for trouble. He however knew enough not to judge since he had gotten his fair share of complaints about his choice to wear orange and black more than once. He looked about and quickly spotted a certain redhead armed with a paint sprayer and he didn't need to look about to know just what Dita had in mind.

He quickly rushed there, an easy feat for someone like him and he was soon besides Dita as she was about to aim her paint sprayer at his Vanguard. He knew the young girl meant well, but he would rather eat a whole day's worth of vegetables than have his Vanguard colored pink.

"Dita, I appreciate the idea of making my Vanguard look pretty and all, but I prefer the color it already has."

"Are you sure about Mr. Alien?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

Dita sighed but she decided instead to at least give Naruto something as a way of making him happy.

"All right, would you like me to make something good for you to eat later? Like a good deal of ramen?"

The blonde grinned and nodded eagerly, hoping to try some brand new ramen recipes.

"Now THAT is a good thing Dita-chan!"

…

Later…

Naruto, along with Bart and Duero watched from the control center, as several female pilots, namely Dita, Meia, Barnette, and Jura were now training using the Vanguard simulators. Naruto was happy that he had already done his work on the Vanguard as well as keeping his Vanguard from being colored and he was currently watching the trainees duke it out in a virtual training mission.

It was soon obvious that the female pirates were totally unaccustomed to the male mecha in hand-to-hand and close quarters fighting scenarios. The women had been trained extensively with Dreads and were more experienced with doing long-range strikes and surprise assaults and naturally this meant that close quarters combat was not their area of expertise.

Their specialty was deep in maneuverability and that needed a lot of space to operate. The Vanguards however were specifically designed to work with male pilots, confined areas and inborn fighting skills and instincts, which were an integral part in the male psyche. They could however tell that were some exceptions to this rule. Despite her being totally against the use of the Vanguards, Barnette quickly mastered the machine and soon got the handle of manipulating the mecha systems.

As the virtual Vanguards tripped and stumbled over one another, Jura became disgusted and left her simulator.

"I've had enough! Why can't this machine move with more elegance? I'm out of here!" With that she quickly exited the room in a huff.

Kyo shook his head in disappointment. Though she didn't know it herself, Kyo could tell that Jura had good potential as a Vanguard pilot or a Mobile Suit pilot, though she lacked the skill, experience, and lastly the patience. He then had to admit that she was still one good pilot and not a bad looking one either. He quickly shook his head to steer clear of those thoughts before they would go to rather indecent areas. He directed his gaze to the other remaining pilots.

Also watching the pilots' performance via pulse monitors, Duero nodded as he then checked the statistics on the pilots as they continued their training.

"Looks like I'll be needed at the bridge."

Duero said as he prepared to report to the captain, that Jura, despite her earlier fuming period, had the needed motor control and skill to be a Vanguard pilot for only this mission, and Barnette was also doing quite well, along with Dita who did considerably well, despite her inexperience. It was then that he gazed at another pulse monitor reading that he began to focus more on this one, as the simulators showed that its pilot was showing signs of feeling agitation and extreme stress. Apparently, the best Dread pilot in the pirate group was the worst Vanguard pilot, but something about the readings was no laughing matter.

…

In the simulator…

Meia slammed her fist in anger on the simulator's side while being inside the virtual Vanguard's cockpit as it had declared that the trial mission ended in complete failure and she was killed in action. Her breathing became labored and rather shallow as she sat in the confined space of the cockpit. Sweat beaded down her forehead and on other areas of her face, as she became even more furious at her poor performance. It was then that her main monitor lit up.

"Are there any medical overrides on Megele?"

"What?"

Duero's face became very serious at this new revelation and showed his reasons why he had a great deal of concern as he knew of the symptoms that Meia was showing to him earlier.

"On Talark, doctors like myself are given full authority by the high command to ground pilots who show any sign of psychological stress, which can disrupt their performance as pilots. Do you want that to happen?"

"Of course not!" Meia shot back as she now had someone apart from a certain male to vent her anger at.

"Then I suggest that you switch your monitor for full all-field vision. That should help in lessening the strain on your body."

"Keep your advice to yourself! I don't need help, especially from a man! I'll be just fine, thank you very much!"

Naruto listened to the whole thing and shook his head, he was no medical specialist like Sakura or Tsunade, or Duero, but even he didn't like the way Meia's readings looked and hoped that despite her pride on being a woman of Megele, Meia was not going to throw her life away for no good reason. He was not going to hold his breath on the matter though, if there was one thing he knew for a certainty about women, they were unpredictable once they got their mind set on something.

…

Naruto frowned as he sat down and unwillingly listened to Bart talk about the features in the Vanguard manual. Having been making Vanguards before and considering what he had seen, he had a feeling the manual writers were told to write morale raising crap on the Vanguards to make up for the fact that they didn't have the said features. While he had grown up enough to understand the need to make morale boosting lies every now and then, he was no fan of it.

The only differences was for him was his Vanguard actually had features that the regular Talark Vanguard pilot wished they had in their Vanguards. Speaking of which he was supposed to meet up with Dita and get that meal she promised him.

Naruto turned and to his surprise, found his face stuffed in a certain blonde female's…MORE than ample bust. He looked up and saw that he was right on the money as he was looking at Jura once more, and he could guess that Barnette was nearby as well. However his train of thought was cut when the blonde spoke to him in a very confident tone.

"Hello there…"

Naruto naturally decided to enjoy this and replied with a smile as he looked at her which was in itself rewarding since her breasts were on either side of his face which amounted to a VERY good and comfortable view.

"Hello to you as well Jura. Something I can help you with?"

The blonde smiled warmly and replied.

"There is, when we go down there, I want you to remember to combine with me all right?"

With that, Jura moved away and that allowed Naruto to see her walk in the way women walked that would attract men like a magnet attracts metal. And he liked what he saw, despite the fact he reminded himself to keep his hands away from the blonde despite on part of his mind telling him to go for it. That was no mean feat after having his face between the woman's more than well formed and firm breasts.

Added to that was the fact that despite her perfume being in his face, the blonde Hokage's enhanced nose was able to get her natural female scent, and he liked what he smelled.

Naruto then managed to keep his body from reacting to his train of thought and managed to do so, much to his relief since he was not in the mood to let his physical reaction be seen. However he had a feeling that it was not going to the last time that blonde bombshell of the Dread pilot was going to try to get him to do whatever she wanted from him.

…

Meia frowned as she got out of the Vanguard simulator and slammed her fist on the side of the cockpit as she tried to recover her composure as well as her heart rate and breathing. She turned and there was Duero as well as Pyoro and she could tell that the man, despite having half his face covered by his long hair was not the least bit pleased by what happened.

Duero knew that Meia's profile said to him that she was going to shut him out the very second he started to tell her that her readings showed that she was ill suited for this mission. The medical side of him knew that Meia had claustrophobia and that was the ultimate blow to any would be Vanguard pilot. If she went down there she was going to be locked up by her phobia and become a danger to the mission. It was not going to be easy as he knew that while he was the medical officer, the crew due to being all female would not like his actions in grounding one of their own ..even more so if it was Meia.

They might overrule him, but he was going to try anyway

…

Naruto was right in the thought that the blonde Dread pilot was far from done for after getting the chance to see him and Dita in the Bio-Park while he was munching away at her cooking, the young nurse Paiway had reported to the blonde Dread pilot who was currently taking a shower in one of the Nirvana's bathing areas. As soon as she got everything down pat from the impromptu spy, the blonde Dread pilot was already coming up with a plan to try and seduce the blonde to combine with him.

Though she had plans to use an old technique…to get him, via his appetite with some very delicious food as this seemed to work in Dita's case. All she needed now for that plan to work like a charm was an accomplice who happened to be a great cook.

…

In the Park…

Naruto wondered what was the reason he was here in the Park once more, he had recently finished his meal and gotten himself ready for the mission to the planet's surface when he got intercepted by Barnette and Jura. He had a feeling that they were up to something, but he decided to let them do it anyway.

As soon as he got there, he say the push cart and the trays and quickly guessed just what was under them and smirked a bit as he easily saw the reason.

(Nice…convince me to do what they want via my stomach…)

Naruto enhanced senses were able to warn him about something odd though when he was finally in front of the tray with the two women on either side of him. He had a feeling that this was going to be a very interesting day. The very second he looked at the meal, his stomach growled, showing that despite stuffing his face with the ramen Dita made, he was still hungry.

But not hungry enough to not ask what the sudden free meal was for as he had detected a heavy amount of spices on it via his nose.

"There's a reason behind the free meal I take it?"

Jura smiled sweetly at him.

"If you agree to combine with me, then you can eat it."

Naruto sighed a bit. He knew that Jura wanted to combine with him ever since seeing his Vanguard fuse with Meia and Dita's Dreads. And it seemed that she had just decided to take the route through his stomach. He had to give the woman credit for that approach as it was the same when his wives bribed him with ramen to get out of bed in the morning.

(I should have known there was a catch.)

But then again, he kept in mind that he had ways to deal with this later, and even if there was a large amount of spices there, he had his way of dealing with that.

"Well… all right, a little bite… but I'm not yet saying that I'll agree to it."

Jura nodded as she smiled, prodding him to go and taste the food. After the first bite, Naruto would soon be twisted around her finger. Behind them, Barnette tried not to laugh but made no effort not to grin. After one bite of the doctored food, Naruto's taste buds would be totally obliterated by the spices.

(Let's see just what will happen now…I am going to enjoy this.)

Naruto ate the meat and chewed it a bit in his mouth, he immediately tasted the spices but his chakra was already on hand to dull the pain on his taste buds and seeing the grin on Barnette's face told him that she doctored the food. This was going to be an interesting way to counter Barnette who he had no doubt had loaded the filet mignon with a tank full of spices earlier. His chakra use had improved for a long time so he could use chakra passively with just his thoughts though this was only effective on small matters and situations.

Besides, after the war ended and with Madara dead and gone as well as Sasuke in exile, his newly promoted Jonin friend Rock Lee had actually taken him back to visit Karashi, Ranmaru and his still living mother Sansho who were running a very successful shop in the same place as before on foot no less. He would have fought Lee to get away from the stuff since he recalled the experiences he had with the Curry of Life. However, seeing that the two had perfected the recipe and not wanting their efforts go to waste, he decided to eat it along with saying a mental prayer to Kami that he didn't die before becoming Hokage through food, he'd never be able to explain it to those he would meet in the afterlife how he got killed by a meal.

It was here that he discovered that using a portion of his now fully controlled Kyuubi chakra as well as his own helped ease the pain eating the perfected curry and actually allowed him to keep himself from going nuts on the first bite. After a while, he felt his body get used to it and thankfully not feel like the stuff was going to burn him from the inside out and burn holes in his guts.

After eating the stuff and enjoying it, relatively speaking, the blonde finally allowed the Jonin to bring him here on special occasions. The end effect of these visits actually helped contribute to his ability to taste spicy food and enjoy it without feeling like he had just swallowed something akin to liquid fire. And the fact that the spices in the new form of the Curry of Life were three or six times more powerful than the sauce Barnette had loaded on this meat meant that all the spices she placed in it were NOT going to match. In fact, they were very low in the spiciness scale in his mind.

The blonde enjoyed the spiciness as well as the meat and that told him that despite her attempts to harm him, the emerald haired woman was an actually good cook, add that quality with her undeniably sexy form, and remove her issues towards men, and any man would gladly walk over fire to get her as a wife.

He put that aside and swallowed the meat and smiled warmly and replied to Jura's question.

"Nice! The spiciness is all right though it needs a bit more kick to it, you still have any of that spice sauce on you by any chance?"

That made Barnette's jaw drop as she looked at the blonde Shinobi who didn't even look the least bit bothered by what he had just eaten.

(I swear I placed in more than enough spices to make any person swear that they were going to lose every taste bud on their tongue! How can that guy actually eat that and not even show a drop of sweat?)

"You enjoy that?"

The blonde grinned and replied.

"Oh yeah, you're a great cook Barnette-san, in fact most guys I know would love the cooking you make. But the spiciness DOES need some work, until it's up to the standard of spicy to me."

"How can you EAT something that spicy?"

"Are you kidding? I know of a good trio of chefs who make a curry that puts the spices here to shame! And how do I know that? I ate their food more than once and trust me, their food is many times spicier than this!"

Barnette couldn't believe it and moved forward to try the food herself to see if for some reason he must be using something to make him immune to the spices or maybe she did something that didn't make the spices as effective as she liked.

(Maybe the other ingredients I placed before must have diluted the spices somehow…or maybe that man is just pulling my leg…no, he didn't even sweat so maybe…)

Barnette took the knife and cut a portion of the filet mignon she made and spiced heavily, she then ate it to see just how spicy it really was. The very second she did that, she turned red and her lips began to puff up. The woman then turned and cried out while unleashing a blast of fire from her mouth.

"WATER!"

Naruto looked at the pillar of flame and chuckled to himself as he understood Barnette's reaction very easily, after all, when he tried the stuff, he had the very same reaction though his blast of fire from HIS mouth was a lot more spectacular. He placed that aside and ate the filet mignon without any hesitation as well as some of the food that was still there while Barnette was still trying to recover until she took off to get a drink, a really BIG drink.

Jura was utterly confused by the whole thing as she looked at where her friend had taken off to and she then looked at the blonde ninja who had just finished the meal with a happy expression on his face. She then spoke to him on what had just happened to Barnette.

"What just happened to Barnette?"

"I have no idea honestly."

It was at that point that the communications system in the Nirvana came online and Buzam spoke out to the assembled people there in the Park that the mission was a go.

Naruto sighed and got up and headed out to get to his Vanguard but not before speaking to Jura.

"Time to get going, see you in the mission."

"Don't forget to combine with me on the mission!"

"I'll try to remember that!"

…

A few minutes later, Naruto's Vanguard launched from the Nirvana and sped towards the planet's atmosphere. It was then followed by the other Vanguards who were in a special drop-ship. Inside their respective mecha were Dita, Jura, and Barnette (who now sported a pair of puffy lips). At the helm of the ship was Jura. Her gaze was directed solely on Naruto's Vanguard as he was in the lead of the others as the harder

"I won't let you get off the hook that easily Naruto."

Jura vowed as she directed the ship's trajectory to follow Naruto's Vanguard who took the point.

"Leave Mr. Alien alone! The only one he's going to combine with is me!"

Dita said as she heard Jura's speech, it became apparent that Jura forgot to shut off her communicator.

"You stay out of this!" Jura said in retaliation.

Both decided to give one another deep glares instead.

Barnette just shook her head.

"This had better be a quick mission."

She then touched her lips and began then to wonder on just HOW did Naruto withstood the food she had doctored and if he was not lying that he had eaten much spicier food than that one.

The enhanced Vanguard and the drop-ship began to make fiery reentry paths into the planet as they moved through the atmosphere. As soon as they passed through the clouds and cooled down, the drop-ship broke apart, letting its cargo experience freefall for a period of a few seconds. The Vanguards then deployed umbrella-like devices to float all the way down to the surface.

Inside his Vanguard, Kyo watched the ground approach through the main viewer-screen. He had already decided to upgrade Freedom's OS but he had to do it quick, Freedom whipped up it's own small sandstorm when it landed on the surface.

The other Vanguards soon touched down on the desert world and immediately began to look around. They had landed in the midst of several artificial structures, which seemed to resemble the ruins of one massive and forgotten city.

…

Back on the Nirvana…

A lone pilot ran into the hanger and gave a shout of frustration. "I'm too late!" Meia said as she ran to her waiting Vanguard. It was then that Pyoro arrived and floated it's way to the young pilot.

"You're pushing yourself too hard. Don't you think that they'll be fine on their own? They can do well without you as they have the training."

"No!I'm the leader of this mission; I'm supposed to be responsible for all of them!"

(Even for…Naruto.)

Meia added silently with reluctance as she gazed at the planet below.

"But the drop-ship's only designed for one-way use only. There aren't any others." The robot pointed out to the young Dread leader.

"What?"

…

On the ground of the unknown world…

The Vanguards managed to land safely after the drop-ship sled was broken apart and they soon surveyed their surroundings and the seemingly desolate area they were currently in. Placed on one side were the umbrella like devices, which were now stripped of the umbrella protrusions, these were also designed to act as booster units for getting back to space when the mission was considered over, as the Vanguards had no other way on leaving the planet's gravity.

Jura looked about and sighed at the barren wasteland filled with ruins and sand.

"Well this place is totally deserted. Nothing here to get all excited about." Jura commented as she continued her scan of the area.

Barnette agreed at her comrade's statement.

"There was no need for Meia to come with us for something like this, I doubt we can even find anything salvageable around here."

"Wow! Look at all this sand."

Dita commented as she also looked around.

Naruto however was completely focused and had a grim expression. He then trained his sensors around the area, for the remote but still present possibility that there were survivors anywhere on this planet. He looked at the landscape, totally unimpressed and saddened by lack of any detected life-signatures. He then directed his Vanguard, to move around and explore the area. He was thankful that his time sneaking into Vanguard simulators as well as taking over some Vanguards in their testing phases in both space and on the ground helped him adjust well enough.

It was then he registered a tapping on his Vanguard's shoulders. He then felt a little bit uncomfortable, namely at a certain area on his body and in his mind as he saw who was on his monitor.

The blonde Dread pilot then seductively smiled at the blonde former Hokage and spoke in a very seductive tone.

"So, why don't we get down to doing it together eh?"

THAT statement was more than enough to make the blonde Shinobi blush, even if he knew that Jura actually had no idea of the double meaning of that statement of hers. The fact that the blonde bombshell was giving him the very seductive once over didn't help matters either. But he managed to recover and reply to the blonde's statement.

"Jura, Do you realize what happens to be the other meaning of that question of yours?"

"Oh? What would that be?"

Before the blonde could say anything or even take back that statement, Dita's Vanguard came in and was now between Naruto and Jura's respective Vanguards and she quickly got her Vanguard's hands on Naruto's Vanguard as well and began to try and move him away from Jura and she spoke.

"Stop it Jura! The only one that Mr. Alien is going to be doing it with is me!"

Naruto couldn't help but feel even more thoughts go into his brain that were not exactly ideal to have in a battle-field as Dita said that. The innocent redhead had no idea just what that statement meant to the blonde Shinobi, but before he could try to figure his way out of the whole thing, the blonde Dread pilot guided her Vanguard to grab his Vanguard once more and she began to drag him away while she spoke in a seriously annoyed tone.

"Dita! It's my turn to do it with Naruto, you've had your turn already!"

"No!"

"Dita! Don't be so stubborn about this! I deserve to do it with Naruto as well!"

"I am not, Mr. Alien is doing with me only!"

Naruto swore that he was going to lose his mind at the various images the two women were sending down his mind at the moment. Even though he had a feeling that their statements were not going in THAT direction, his more than eager inner pervert was enjoying that particular direction immensely. He then decided to get some distance from the two and make sure that the two of them would stop.

"As much as I would normally being in this kind of situation, now is not the time!"

Naruto managed to get his Vanguard free and activate the jet systems and take off, freeing himself from the two Vanguards. As he took off, a hidden device spotted his Vanguard and fired some sort of beam. Naruto spotted it and quickly turned off his Vanguard's jets while firing out an energy shuriken as his Vanguard dropped back to the ground.

He then spotted several more beams now appearing above them and he swore.

"Damn! It's a trap!"

…

High above the whole situation, a lone Vanguard came through the clouds. Inside it, Meia did her best to pilot her mecha safely to the surface of the planet towards the landing coordinates where her comrades and blonde Shinobi were. She had tried several times to raise her allies on her Vanguard's communicator, but had no success in doing so. As she headed towards the surface, her machine suddenly began to shudder as a massive sandstorm suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere and caused extreme turbulence.

…

On the bridge of the Nirvana, Duero became very concerned. The pulse monitors on his console for each Vanguard pilot including Naruto were now showing elevated heart rates and increasing respiration though it seemed that Naruto was a bit calmer than the others. When he checked Meia's readouts as well, he knew that they were in very serious trouble.

"This is not good. Their pulse rates are increasing rapidly and they are now showing signs of fear and disorientation. Something dangerous is happening down there."

BC immediately opened a frequency to the Vanguards below, but the comm-links were scrambled and were very grainy, no doubt from interference from the detected sandstorm, and the response from the pilots were very short and incomprehensible.

"Vanguard team, what's happening down there?"

"We're… trapped… (Squark!)… (Bzzzt!)…"

"Ahhh! Look…out!"

"Damn! It's an… ambush!"

"The sand… is… (Crackle!)…attack…"

Buzam's expression became a mixture of both confusion and deep concern. "The sand is attacking?"

…

In her Vanguard, Dita became a little more shocked and fearful as the sand suddenly moved as it seemed to have a mind of it's own. As the sudden sandstorm whipped around them, particles suddenly began to stick to the surface of her mecha and that of her fellow pirates, along with Mr. Alien's partner and the other good aliens' machines, and the sand spread out like blobs. Servos began to lock up as sand began to lock into the joints and also to other moving parts as well, making their movements more difficult and sluggish.

"This sand's acting as if it's alive!"

Inside his Vanguard, Naruto began to grow more worried. The sand began to try to cover his Vanguard and it wasn't going to be long before his mecha was going to be completely covered by sand and also completely immobilized as another wave began to cover it on another side. This situation reminded him too easily of how it was when he and faced his long time friend, the Kazekage Gaara when they were still enemies and when they fought in the Invasion of Konoha all those years ago.

There was no way that there was anyone in this reality that had the same sand manipulation powers as he friend and former Jinchuuriki so it had be something else. But he hardly had time to figure out what that might be as he was still trying to find a way to free his machine.

"Damn it! My Vanguard's already built for this kind of land, but if this keeps up, it won't budge at all!"

It was then that Jura's Vanguard came up to him.

"Leave this to me!"

Activating the exhaust vent located in front of her mecha, Jura directed the airflow to blow over Naruto's smothered machine and remove the sand, layer by layer, until the Vanguard was freed of the sands.

"Thanks a lot!"

Jura then smiled as she replied.

"You're welcome. By the way, why don't we combine? That's what I want in reward for freeing your partner."

Naruto sighed a bit and he gave an unbelieving expression to his face.

"Are you still stuck on that combining business? If so I think you've forgotten something, and it's the fact that there's no way that I can combine with your Vanguard. My Vanguard can only combine with your Dread. How do you expect me to fuse my Vanguard with your Vanguard anyway, when it's not been affected and transformed by the Paeksis like mine?"

Jura gave a shocked and rather disappointed expression.

"Are you joking? NO! Why didn't you tell me before? I shouldn't have trained for this mission!"

…

Meia's Vanguard landed hard on the surface of the desert planet, which was now in a blazing sandstorm. Her cockpit was covered in darkness, as several systems were now offline. Due to the sandstorm that arrived unexpectedly, she had landed several hundred meters from where the others were. Her breathing became rapid and she took in air in short gasps, her heart rate began to gain speed and thundered in her chest. Her forehead became sweaty and her eyes widened in fear and terror.

It was then that Duero's voice managed to reach her through the comm-link on her Vanguard.

"Meia! Meia! Do you hear me? Turn on your main monitor! Look as far away as you can!" Duero called out in a commanding voice as he tried to get Meia to recover.

The young Dread pilot reached out with a trembling hand and activated a switch to bring her monitor back online. "He…should mind his own…damned business!"

As the monitor came back to life and showed the barren and sandy landscape, her breathing came back to normal and her heart rate returned to being steady. However, the Dread Leader's relief was short lived, as she caught movement, something was heading at her direction, right for where she was.

Before she could comment, she spotted a Vanguard figure made of sand that suddenly exploded and slammed right into her before she could react. And soon, her phobia was taking effect on her as she began to lock up.

…

The Nirvana…

Amarone gave a gasp of shock. She was monitoring the scene on the desert planet and was watching the markers that told her where the landing party was. Her cry of shock was due to the fact that one of the markers had disappeared… Meia's marker on her Vanguard and that made things even more hectic.

"Meia's mecha has disappeared from the sensors!"

BC acknowledged the report from Amarone and immediately got into contact with the landing party.

"Barnette! Jura! Dita! Naruto! Do you copy? Meia has disappeared! You have to find her!"

…

On the ground…

"What? Are you sure she's actually down here?"

Naruto called out as soon as he got the message from Buzam while trying to find the origins of those beams and firing out some of his Vanguard's energy shuriken and kunai to try and destroy as many of them as he could to at least deactivate the trap..

"I repeat… Meia's mecha has landed some distance from where you and the others are. But she's no longer in our sensors' display! Find her!"

"Roger that!"

Naruto called out as he and the others were now nearing their recovery from the massive storm of sand that threatened to hinder them.

(Damn it! What the heck is she trying to prove here?)

He knew that there was something terribly wrong with Meia, from the way she acted during her session at the Vanguard simulators and the condition symptoms that he noticed before, and he knew how deadly it would be for someone in her state of mind to be in a Vanguard.

"Leader's out there somewhere?"

Dita called out as she and the others had also received the message from BC. The redhead had already helped remove the sand hindering Barnette and her Vanguard.

"That's right. We'll have to find her fast."

Naruto said as he finally used one of his Swords to unleash a strong but gentle blast of wind enhanced chakra to wipe out the last remains of sand on his Vanguard. As they were about to move forward to locate the Dread pilot, they were alerted by the alarm in Jura's voice.

"Don't look now but we've got company!"

Jura shouted as she pointed at one direction.

The others looked and gave shocked expressions, as mounds of sand began to appear and suddenly transform into replicas of the Vanguards. The doppelgangers then immediately went to their programmed duties and attacked. The Dread pilots had no other choice but to retaliate using the combat skills they had learned in the simulators.

But due to the irony that now they were like the Vanguard trainees they battled with when they attacked the Ikazuchi. They were totally unsuccessful in the battles with their sand counterparts, as they had no on-hand combat experience with the male mecha and on how to manage the need to maneuver the machine while in battle.

Dita desperately struggled as she was now engaging one of the sand Vanguards as it attacked her mecha. She was shocked even more at the combat readouts; it showed that their systems were being copied and to add further difficulty to her current plight, the mecha she controlled was also being drained of power.

"The sand-creatures are copying the Vanguards' systems and draining the power supply! It's…almost like having the blood in us drained out!"

Naruto however managed to keep his head cool and focus on the task at hand. Having been in many battles ever since he grew up both physically and mentally in different respects, and being Hokage, he had learned enough on how to lead a team. There were three people with him and it reminded him of his time as a Genin in a three member team under a Jonin and when he became a Jonin himself and led his own time. He knew that if they were going to survive this situation, they needed to fight together, and with that in mind, he began to issue commands as he had his Vanguard connect to the others via communication links while drawing the other sword of the Vanguard for battle.

"All right then, Dita, you're with me and stay close to me so you won't get blindsided! Jura! You and Barnette have your Vanguards move to cover each other's back so you also won't get blindsided. Use your weapons to even things up!"

Barnette replied in an annoyed voice to that.

"I don't take orders from men!"

Naruto snorted and replied.

"Well in case you haven't noticed, I'm the only long serving Vanguard pilot here to begin with and we don't have time to argue! Unless you want to get yourself killed over your pride?"

Barnette growled her teeth at this but Dita was not going to argue as she managed to get her Vanguard's weapon, a chain-blade sword and activated the weapon carefully and she was soon joining Naruto in fighting the Sand Vanguards that had managed to blindside them earlier.

"I'm right with you Mr. Alien!"

Naruto appreciated that as he cut down two more San Vanguards and after stabbing two more of the Sand Vanguards, the blonde Shinobi released his swords and fired two energy shuriken to destroy two more of the Sand Vanguards that tried to get into the fight, Dita's Vanguard then attacked another Sand Vanguard trying to blindside the blonde Shinobi's Vanguard and Naruto repaid that in kind by slicing down two more Sand Vanguards trying to do the same thing. Barnette could not believe what she was seeing before her and spoke.

"Dita! What are you doing?"

"Working with Mr. Alien! He knows what he is doing in this Barnette."

Before Barnette could comment on that, she watched as Jura took out the long spear that was the weapon of her own Vanguard and she was soon contacted by her blonde friend and lover.

"Dita's right, Naruto seems to know what to do in a situation like this so let's not argue with him. Come on Barnette, we have to do this."

Barnette tried to come up with something to say, but even though she had her pride as a woman of Megele, that pride was not enough to blind her to the need to work together. She sighed and grabbed the weapon set on her Vanguard which was a short sword and a small hatchet and shouted.

"Hold up!"

…

After a few minutes of non-stop fighting, the tide slowly turned in favor of the pirates and the former Hokage. Naruto used his Wind chakra enhanced blades to cut down multiple Sand Vanguards while also tapping into his Sage chakra, the good news was that he had mastered his ability to gather Sage Chakra and store it long enough to fight for hours than before. He also began to unleash more energy shuriken and kunai, he even used the chakra chains as flying energy blades to slice down more of the Sand Vanguards, even the newly appearing ones as well.

As the Sand Vanguards lessened in number and they were able to rest for a moment or two, Naruto managed to download a set of coordinates.

"I've got a fix on Meia's last known location; I'm feeding in the data now."

He immediately raised Barnette as he faced another arriving batch of Sand Vanguards.

"Barnette, we'll hold the line here, you'll have to go and locate Meia. You've got her coordinates so go find her now!"

"I told you before that I don't take orders from a man!"

"For the love of common sense! Look! Either go and find Meia right now and get her back here so we can leave or we can all stay here and lose everyone! Now get moving Barnette, we don't have all day!"

Jura's friend growled irritably, but realized the truth of Naruto's words. She then went off in search of Meia, while Kyo and the others readied themselves for the new battle.

…

On the Bridge…

Buzam was trying to figure out just what they were going to do now with the situation the way it was. However, the only good thing that was coming out of this was the fact that the ground team seemed to be getting back into action and fighting back. However, she focused herself on getting any information on what was attacking the ground team.

"Do we have any idea what is it that's commanding the attack on the ground team?"

Belvedere nodded and replied.

"It appears to be some sort of central command and control system, apparently it's using nano-machines to control the sand and manipulate it for battle purposes."

Buzam then directed her attention to the situation with the ground team, she was surprised and so was Magno as they discovered that the ground team was actually fighting well enough to keep themselves from being overwhelmed by the Sand Vanguards. The elderly captain asked who was leading the group as she knew that out of the chosen pilots for the operation, the best pilots in using the Vanguards in their crew were Jura and Barnette in relative levels.

When they learned that it was Naruto who was leading them to not only hold their own, but to what would qualify as an amazing victory, they were intrigued as well as surprised

…

Meia on the other hand was dealing with an issue of her own as she was now in the grip of mental shock and trauma as the sand began to engulf her Vanguard and plunge her into utter darkness.

"W-What do I d-do? I'm so scared…."

Just as soon as the sand soon engulfed her Vanguard, Barnette's own mecha arrived on the scene.

"MEIA!"

Barnette rushed to her comrade's side and activated the shovel extension of her Vanguard and immediately went to work on freeing Meia from the sand that surrounded and trapped her mecha. She swore, as she couldn't use her vent system to free Meia, the system was too clogged up with sand and was further damaged by the battle with the Sand Vanguards earlier.

Suddenly, Meia's sand coated Vanguard got up and knocked Barnette's own mecha aside. It then took off, rocketing upward to touch the force field high above them. This attempt activated a loud blaring alarm to fill the whole area, as several structures rose from the sand and began to pulsate like beating hearts.

…

In the Nirvana…

"What's going on?"

Magno demanded as they detected the sudden increase of power under the surface of the planet.

Ezra began to scan the situation and gasped as she read the report from their scanners concerning the massive build-up of energy.

"There's some kind of self-destruct sequence that's been activated!"

Amarone confirmed this as she detected a countdown.

"The count-down's underway. Three hundred seconds before the whole planetary surface is engulfed in explosions!"

"Nirvana to landing party! Get out of there now!"

BC said to the expedition unit via comm..link.

…

On the ground…

"As much as we want to do just that, we'll a little bit tied up down here!"

Naruto called back to the Nirvana as he smashed his Vanguard's swords into the side of another Sand Vanguard, severing the creature into two and then firing three more energy shuriken into the next pair that came at him.

Naruto turned his Vanguard and spotted another Sand-Vanguard, he then aimed his dual rail-guns on the would-be attacker.

"Not another one! Just where the hell are these things coming from anyway?"

He then placed aside his Vanguard's swords aside as he readied his Rasengan to turn the thing into atoms in a charging attack when he spotted Barnette's mecha following it.

"NO! STOP! THAT THING IS MEIA! THE SAND'S GOTTEN CONTROL OF HER MECHA!"

"WHAT?"

…

Inside the mecha, the Dread Leader was in full state of catatonic shock and naturally was unaware of what was happening outside of her machine. She was shocked back into reality as something smashed into her Vanguard and knock it to it's back. She then heard Naruto's voice in the communicator of her mecha.

"Meia! I have no idea what the heck you're doing in there, but now is NOT the time to be going all catatonic on me!"

"F-F-Forget about me…save yourselves…" Meia said weakly.

"What are you getting at? You want us to just leave you here? Forget it! I have not abandoned anyone at all in my life as a Shinobi and I am not going to start today!"

…

"One hundred and fifty seconds until detonation."

"Did you hear that?"

Buzam spoke out on the communicator as she and the rest of the crew were literally on the edge of their seats.

…

"We're not devoid of hearing you know!"

Outside Naruto tried to find a working solution to get the sand of Meia's Vanguard, it was moving over her Vanguard too fast to remove quickly enough. He would have asked the others to do the same thing Jura had done, but that was out of the question and time was against them. Summoning more of Kage Bushin copies of his Vanguard would have worked but time was still a factor.

He looked about and spotted a massive tower like structure and his Senjutsu enhanced sense told him that there was something there he could use. He quickly summoned his Sage Chakra and formed a Rasenshuriken and fired it right into the tank. The minute it hit, it unleashed a massive amount of super cooled gases that enveloped the entire area. This deactivated the last of the systems that held the laser grin online and it fell.

Jura complained about the sudden drop in temperatures but noted that the effect was the Sand Vanguards becoming brittle and stiff, the combined heat and cold sent them crashing down into piles of sand and the frozen ground made sure many of them would no longer rise. Dita was amazed and cheered at Naruto while Jura was impressed and even Barnette reluctantly admitted that it was a good plan.

…

Inside her own machine, Meia had a deep scowl on her. To think that she now owed a man her life… and to Naruto no less was something which got her nerves easily enough.

She then tried to make her machine move, but it wasn't responding at all. She checked her readouts and saw that the sand had accomplished part of its objectives; it had completely drained her mecha of power. There was no chance of her to escape in time.

"The mecha's got no more power! It won't budge anymore!"

Naruto sighed and wasted no time as he took Meia's powered down Vanguard in his arms and carried it bridal style. He knew that this was creepy enough in mecha, but he can bet that Meia was not happy at all with what was going to happen.

And sure enough…

"What are you doing?"

Meia couldn't help but feel weird at the fact that her mecha was being carried like this and she looked to see Naruto looking at her seriously.

"Right now there's no difference between you and me, so now is not the time to think about dying, so hang on, this is going be a hell of a ride!"

…

In the Bridge…

"Time's up."

Amarone replied as the countdown meter on her console reached a full zero.

On the bridge of the Nirvana, Magno and the rest of her crew watched with apprehension as the surface of the desert planet was engulfed in huge balls of fire and explosive force in orange-red color. Duero's medical monitors were showing nothing but static. There was a deep foreboding silence all over the ship, as the pirates feared for the worst. Then Duero's attention went back to the monitors as all five readouts displaying the landing party went back online as several objects broke out of the massive conflagrations that tore up the planet's surface.

"All Vanguards are accounted for."

Ezra said with a strong amount of relief in her voice.

The rest of the bridge personnel let off a collective sigh of relief as well. It was then that one of the bridge crew namely Belvedere announced that she had received some data from the investigation.

"Read it." BC ordered.

Belvedere became a bit tense, but nodded, with a little prodding from Buzam.

And what they were about to hear…was anything but expected as the faces of the bridge crew turned from relief to shock and horror.

…

In the Nirvana's Hanger Bay…

Meia sat down on the floor of the Hanger Bay as her Vanguard and that of the others were being brought back in for repairs and maintenance. The battle below had shown to the pirates just how serious the Harvesters were about their mission of Harvest and that now was known to be harvesting all the organs of all living humans. The horror of this was not lost to the bridge crew and soon a council had to be held on how to best answer this dire threat. This was also how to use the Vanguards at some point in time in their travels back to Megele and Talark space.

The blonde's Vanguard landed first after passing her Vanguard to Jura and Dita's Vanguard and moved into the paddock and Naruto soon got out to get some tools to fix his Vanguard and came back after she had gotten out of her Vanguard.

The pirate officers with the exception of Meia were already deep in council on the matter but Meia was not with them as she was still trying to recover her senses while still glaring at a certain blonde Shinobi who was currently checking his Vanguard for damage.

(To be saved by someone is such a hard thing but to be saved by a man of all people is a disgrace, and of all the men in this galaxy to save me it had to be him!)

"You know…if you keep on looking at my Kage Bushin like that you might get lucky and burn a hole through him."

Meia's eyes widened and she looked about to see Naruto standing right next to her, she gasped and noted something odd in Naruto's face. There were some orange markings at the side and lower area of his eyes and his eyes looked…reptilian like. She shook her head while closing her eyes, thinking that she was seeing things. As soon as she opened her eyes, she noted Naruto's eyes had returned to normal and thought that what she saw was just a trick of the eye.

Naruto frowned and spoke.

"You're angry at me for saving your life, care to tell me why?"

"How did…"

"Sorry, not telling, but you still need to answer my question, and no I don't read minds, but I can tell facial expressions and body language well enough."

Meia glared at the blonde and turned to see that the one she had been staring at was no gone, confirming that the one she had been staring at before was indeed a Kage Bushin. She looked at the blonde and replied seriously.

"I'm not answering any questions from you."

As she got up and walked away, she then heard Naruto speak.

"You're weak."

THAT got Meia to stop and then turn a full one eighty degrees and go stomping back to the blonde and shout at him with fire in her eyes.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"You're weak, not in a physical sense, but an emotional one, something happened to you in the past I take it? Is that why you don't ask for help at all?"

"Shut up!"

Naruto however didn't seem bothered by her outburst and that further infuriated Meia as she was lashed out with a punch at the blonde but Naruto easily stopped it and looked at her seriously. He stared at her for a moment or so and then replied.

"You want to die don't you? You feel like you have nothing left to live for, that's why you don't want anyone's help, even if it is something that should not be turned down. I can see it in your eyes Meia. That's why you're weak, you have nothing in your heart worth fighting or than meeting your end."

Meia gritted her teeth and snarled at Naruto.

"What would you know about me anyway? You have no idea what I've been through!"

Naruto said nothing and then moved away while keeping her fist in his hand until he released it and replied.

"You think you're the only person I've met who's lost much and suffered Meia? Do you think you are the first to suffer the effects of other people's cruelty, selfishness, hatred and distrust, their scorn, and more? I have met my fair share of people like you…some of them chose to wither away to nothing because they didn't find something to keep living for, others managed to move on, make life worth living, and grew stronger for it."

"Those people chose to live and endure more pain and suffering to make their lives have meaning. Those people were strong, stronger than the first batch since they found something to keep their spirit alive as well as their will to live. I met those people and they were my friends, they showed to me that it takes greater courage to live than it does to die."

The blonde then turned and left, leaving a stunned Dread Squadron leader behind him, but not before turning and speaking out one final message.

"Life is not something you can discard like that Meia, and until you find out what will give you a will to live, you are not dying on my watch. I am going to make sure that you get that foolish and idiotic notion of dying out of your head one way or the other."

Meia however was having none of it and moved to face the blonde Shinobi once more and spoke out with confusion in her voice.

'Why are you so determined to meddle in my affairs! What I do is none of your business!"

Naruto shrugged a bit and replied.

"Normally that's true, but I'm doing it since I can wager a guess that if anything happened to you, the crew might not take it well."

That stopped Meia's next biting comments and Naruto noted that easily as he spoke seriously to the Dread pilot.

"Have you considered how they would feel if you went ahead and got yourself killed? You've been with them for some time so I have no doubt that losing you will have a very sorrowful affect on them. Keep that in mind before you go charging off to your death, that is one reason why I am not letting you go off to die, for the sake of the bonds you have with the crew, even if you don't know it or want it. The other…well…"

The blonde then grinned with mirth in his face and finished his unspoken statement.

"I just can't let a beautiful lady get herself killed without trying to keep her alive, besides, I like needling you so it can get rather boring if you decide to get yourself killed. You look really attractive when you're blushing and on fire after all."

With that, the blonde left, leaving the completely stunned Dread Squadron leader standing in the hall, she turned and quickly saw that the blonde Shinobi was gone. Meia tried to think about what had just happened and it confused her even more than she cared to admit.

Unknown to the two, they were being watched by a certain elderly woman.

(Well, it seems that Naruto's a lot more perceptive than others thought…what will you do now Meia?)

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Well, that wraps up this chapter and I hope that this shows that the other stories will indeed gain updates as well at some point before the end of the year. At any rate, this new chapter will indeed show that this story is far from dead and forgotten. And i have cleaned up some errors as well, sorry for that, I have some thoughts that interfered with my train of though and made their way into the story.

Now we bet that Naruto will be having to deal with a number of issues that will be showing itself, one of which will naturally involve his every increasing hormones as well as the fantasies taking root in his head. How he deals with that is going to be interesting, along with the issues of working with the women and eventually trying to make the right choices to get them to not only change their views of men, but to make them work together as well.

Now if anyone is asking me if I will have Naruto lead a Vanguard squadron, that still is up for me to decide if that is the best course of action to take for this story. Why would I do that? It's simply because, the idea of having the main character leading his own team has been done already and I don't like the idea of repeating the scenario too many times already.

But if you readers want that to happen, I'll think it over and try it out, send me your preferences via email or by review. And before I forget, I have to apologize for the lateness of this chapter, ever since my computer had to be reformatted, I lost the original copy and so I had to start from scratch once more

Anyway, on the next chapter we will have that situation happen as well as Naruto getting to work on being friendlier to the ladies of the Nirvana.


	6. Two Doors

VanDread: The Fox

Disclaimer: I do not have any ties to Naruto or VanDread all right?

Chapter 5

Two Doors…

( ): Thoughts

…

In space…

Naruto guided his Vanguard which had one of it's swords drawn and cuts down yet another Cube Fighter as he turned and tossed an energy shuriken into another Cube Fighter right in the eye as it were. That destroyed the other fighter fairly well. The blonde however was not very happy with how things were progressing. The Nirvana pirates were having a hell of a time dealing with the Harvesters as they were now officially called and for a very good reason.

They were leaderless right now and the whole Dread Squadrons were moving about like the proverbial chicken being chased by a fox. The pilots normally would have done well, but that was only when they were led by Meia herself in the battle. Without the blue haired Dread Squadron leader to lead them in battle, they were floundering around so badly that at times, they ended either getting in each other's way or shooting each other.

Never mind the fact that at the moment, Jura who was currently in command of the Dread Squadrons had absolutely no idea what was she going to do. Without Meia around, the supposed unity of the Dread pilots and their groups was not there at all.

The blonde Shinobi and former Hokage couldn't help but shake his head as he focused on getting back into dealing with the Cube Fighters, but while they were in a large number and were not to be laughed at, the real threat was that darting fighter that routinely peppered the pirates with shots and also the Nirvana. Things were not good for the crew of the Nirvana for a number of reasons, the first being that they were in an asteroid field of all things which had something to do with the fact that they had to go through that so maneuverability was not exactly feasible in the current situation.

The next was the fact that without Meia to guide the Dreads in both offensive and defensive actions, the Dreads were unable to defend the Nirvana effectively and that allowed the Harvesters to close in and hit the ship itself. Adding to the fact that the Nirvana had no defensive abilities for itself with the exception of the shield itself, but even that was not going to cut it.

And the last was that the new fighter was going to be a serious problem as it was too fast and very agile as it was able to dodge and weave through the asteroids, showing that it was specially designed for this kind of battles and it was unleashing a barrage of hits not just on the Dreads but on the Nirvana itself and with it's agility and speed, it was more than able to avoid the Dreads as well as him as this was not the best location for him to fight in.

The blonde however was not the kind to give up and throw in the towel, not a single moment in his history did he ever think of throwing in the towel. He made a promise to Meia that he was going to find a way to take that thing out. And he made that promise to her while she was being wheeled off to the Medical Bay of the Nirvana for treatment.

He remembered that scene easily enough and he was not keen on letting another person.

…

Flashback…

Naruto glared at the harvester fighter that was running rings all over them and the Nirvana, he had to admit that this enemy was going to be a serious threat. Already it had been able to break several of the Dread Squadron's formations and leave the Dread pilots in utter disarray and that was more than enough to convince the blonde Shinobi that it was the ring leader of the group and had to be taken out before it could make more attacks on them.

The same thought apparently was in the mind of Meia as she quickly began trying to take out the fighter herself. But it was not long before it became obvious that the machine was certainly not going to be an easy target with it being able to use the asteroids for cover and it's speed was more than a match for Meia's own Dread. The Dread pilots were focusing on trying to keep the Cube Fighters and allowing Meia to take her target out of the picture.

Meia began to chase the fighter and even though it became very obvious to the blonde Shinobi that Meia was not going to get a chance to take out her target, the blue haired woman was not giving up and continued to chase her target. Naruto however knew that they needed to work together to try and stop it.

He guided his Vanguard after the Dread while cutting down two more of the Cube Fighters that tried to come in and stop him. He quickly got into contact with Meia and tried to tell her that if they wanted to stop this enemy that they needed to fuse their machines and got after that target.

However, being the stubborn and prideful lady that she was, she answered him in this statement.

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!"

Before Naruto could try to reason with the stubborn woman, the Dread pilot cut his communications link with her and went after her quarry. She did her best while he tried to stop her from doing something that was going to get her killed, this recklessness reminded him too much of his previous youth and his old friend Sasuke but kept in mind that comparing Meia to his former friend was a mistake and kept that line of thinking out of his mind.

"Meia! Get back here, we can't go after this alone!"

Meia didn't answer as she chased her target trying to get to it and deal with it herself, however that action made her extend the distance between her and Naruto. This made the counter attack of the alien fighter more effective as it quickly outmaneuvered Meia, turned itself around and before Meia could react, the alien fighter open fired at her.

The result was obvious as the silver and grey colored Dread was sent flying off with severe damage as well as leaking coolant and flying parts.

"MEIA!"

Naruto quickly summoned several Kage Bushin and they tossed a barrage of Energy Shuriken at the enemy fighter before it could finish off Meia who was definitely unresponsive. The second he got to the damaged Dread, he focused his systems on the Dread and saw that Meia was injured and unable to respond. He gave a shake of his head and quickly managed to use his Sage Mode and began to feel with his chakra to see Meia's condition.

He was able to feel that Meia's chakra level was still there but it was fading unless she was treated and quickly.

He wasted little time and got into contact with the Nirvana.

"This is Naruto to the Nirvana! Meia's been injured badly, I need the Medical Bay ready for her now!"

"WHAT? Meia's been injured?"

…

End of Flashback…

He recalled going back to the Nirvana being accompanied by Dita in her Dread and soon they were in the Nirvana and escorting the gurney that was there for them. Naruto personally pried Meia out of her badly damaged Dread, unmindful of the fact that her blood was all on his clothing. He had no time to worry as he placed Meia on the gurney and soon they rushed to the Medical Bay. He was no longer in Sage Mode when they arrived in the Medical Bay but before he went back out into space to fight the enemy, he vowed to Meia as she was about to fall into unconsciousness.

"I am going to get that Harvester that did this to you Meia-chan…so you better not die on me just yet."

Naruto mentally got himself back into the game and attacked the nearest Cube Fighters and reached down into himself and used his Controlled Jinchuuriki chakra. He felt the power flow though him once more and in that moment he saw his Vanguard react at the power. He turned his Vanguard and unleashed a powerful arm of made of pure chakra energy and crushed several Cube Fighters coming right for him and taking them out before they could mount an attack on him.

The Vanguard was soon covered in the blonde's chakra as he attacked the Cube Fighters fast and hard, but he knew that even with his powers and that of his Vanguard, he needed to defeat that flying target fast as this was not a good place to be. It was that he had an idea to try if it could work. He knew that using Kage Bushin on the enemy with his Controlled Jinchuuriki chakra was bad idea from previous experience and from what he learned from the Eight Tails and Killer B so he decided to use a trick similar to what he pulled on Pain before, or rather Nagato who had used Yahiko's body as his weapon back in the attack in Konoha.

He had no idea if this was going to work, but no sense not doing it either.

…

In the Nirvana's bridge…

Magno looked at the situation before her and couldn't help but feel very worried as the sounds of battle were all around her. She looked to see that the stress of the battle was beginning to chip away on her crew and that made her worry even more though she did her best to keep herself focused for the sake of her crew's morale. Already the bridge crew were doing their best but the stress was cranking up as more and more calls were coming in and it was pandemonium all around as the Dread pilots floundered without Meia's leadership.

"Where is everyone?"

"Watch where you are firing!"

"Sorry!"

"I can't get Miss Gasco's order!"

"A-Team! Defense Pattern Alpha, and B-Team….uh…"

"AAAAHHHHH!"

"Jura! This formation you called for is a mess!"

"I KNOW! GIVE ME A MINUTE HERE!"

"WE DON'T HAVE A MINUTE!"

Buzam listened to the communiqués from the Dread pilots and the panic in their voices told them that they were truly lost in the mess before them. She sighed and replied.

'We've relied on Meia to lead the Dreads for too long, without her leadership, they are falling apart. We didn't train anyone else in the Squadrons to replace her and now we're in the dark on how to fight without here."

Magno then replied.

"It's not that we didn't train anyone good enough to replace Meia BC, it's because she never let us do that in the first place."

The dark skinned woman turned to face the elderly woman as she spoke .

"Captain…"

Magno thought about how she met Meia once in the streets of Megele when she formed the pirates so long ago and what it was like ever since the young girl joined them. And she was well aware of what sort of tragedy had made Meia the way she is now.

"She's always wanted to do things herself, and no matter what would happen, she would push herself even though it was not needed. She never wants to let others in to help her, nor did she ever want to be close to others. It has been her drive to succeed that has seen her this far. But now it seems that all we can do is do our best and pray that Meia will make it."

The old woman then looked back at the door leading out to the rest of the bridge, even though she knew that it was impossible for her to do, she hoped that inside the Medical Bay the blue haired pilot in question was still alive and being able to survive.

(But I hope that Meia can finally find it in herself to let go of the past and forgive herself. Because if she doesn't do that and soon at this critical point and time, she is truly going to be lost to us all, and I do not know what will happen to the crew if we lose her now.)

…

In the Medical Bay…

Duero was doing his best to try and stabilize Meia as her injuries had been pretty severe and it was only due to Naruto's timely intervention that the Harvesters' new fighter had not managed to finish Meia off. She had a head wound and also several other injuries that could be treated but he had to act fast as she began to his work with Paiway doing her best to assist the man in trying to save Meia from her injuries. He had already removed her uniform up to the waits, focusing on dealing with Meia's injuries and saving her than her now naked or to be more precise semi naked form.

However, Duero recognized something in Meia's eyes and the way she seemed to be acting.

(It's as if Meia's giving up.)

Duero shook his head at such thoughts as these were going to be distracting as he worked on saving the Dread pilot's life. He only hoped that she was not going to give up on her life just yet or else all the effort was going to be for nothing.

…

In Meia's mind, she recalled all the time she had been with her Fahma and Ohma, both of them were scientists who were doing all that they could in order to bring back life to a section of Megele that had suffered from ecological damage. She had good memories of those times and looked at them well. However, not all of her memories were pleasant, there were times that her Ohma would get into arguments with her Fahma and this served to strain their relationship.

Meia recalled the arguments and the times she had tried to do something about it to at least help her Fahma who was the gentler one of the family while Ohma was the more assertive one of the family. She then recalled the time she had been given a gift, the very same circlet that she wore for the rest of her life, a treasured memento of her more joyful times when she was just a young girl.

But like everything, it was not meant to last.

…

Back in the real world.

Naruto's Kage Bushin had managed to turn things around somewhat as he managed to ambush even more of the Cube Fighters, this decreased the headaches being suffered by the Dread pilots who were still very much in a mess. He then knew that the next problem would be the alien fighter itself. He looked to see that bloody thing darting about once more,. It had managed to use it's speed to evade his previous trap using the Vanguard sized Kage Bushin, however, this had allowed him to learn more about the fighter.

The fighter might be fast and agile, but he knew that it was not able to dodge multiple attacks at once when his Kage Bushin nearly destroyed it. But he also knew that it was not going to fall for the same trick again and he had to come up with something that was going to take it down for good this time. The plan to have him merge his vanguard with Meia to match the thing for speed was out and with Jura being in a mess with leading the Dreads without Meia backing them up, there was little time to merge his Vanguard with her Dread.

He then decided to go with merging with Dita, the machine might not be built for high speed, but the long range firepower might do the trick. He was not sure that it was going to be a viable strategy but he was already low on options as it was so he had to make due.

He contacted Dita quickly.

"Dita-chan! We need to merge our machines together quickly; our VanDread's guns might be enough to take that thing out!"

"Right! But will it work Mr. Alien?"

"There's only one way to find out, hurry and merge with my Vanguard."

"Coming!"

…

As soon as the two machines merged together to form the VanDread, the blonde Shinobi and the redhead quickly guided their fused machine to go after the Harvester fighter to take it out, They swatted aside several Cube Fighters that came to attack it. They used the blades to cut them down and quickly began to lock in the massive cannons on the shoulders and the blonde guided the VanDread to aim and fire it's main cannons to end the enemy fighter.

However, the blonde was forced to break the lock quickly as a massive asteroid came at them and the alien fighter took off before he could lock in. The blonde managed to keep himself cool headed as well as focused and analytical. Though this was not part of his nature when he was much younger, the blonde Shinobi had long since learned the value of keeping a clear head as well as patience and analyzing the area before him.

Which was why instead of getting mad, he merely sighed and replied as he looked at the escaping fighter before him, not caring for it escaping for the now as he focused on what he had been able to learn about his foe.

"This is not going to be easy. This entire asteroid field is making it hard to get a good lock on it even with the cannons, and it's agility certainly is giving it an edge."

It was here that Jura appeared, and she was not in the very best of moods, and for a good reason. Due to her not having enough or nearly no experience in leading the Dreads on her own, she was at a complete loss on how to guide her fellow pilots. This was yet another symptom of the over reliance of the women on Meia's leadership skills, and it was not making the blonde Dread pilot cool headed as she spat at the blonde Shinobi.

"Nice going! You let that thing get away! Is that what you men are only able to do?"

Normally Naruto would have retorted at that and bit back with even more venom, but he had matured enough to see that goading the enemy might work, but goading allies was not the way to go, and Jura was an ally, an ally who was under a great deal of stress and was trying to find a way to vent out the stress. Making her vent out her anger was a viable option, but hardly recommended in the middle of a fight.

That was why he replied calmly to her taunt.

"You're not going to be helping your friends by getting mad at me Jura-san, focus on what you need to do here and now."

This served to shock and embarrass Jura, as well as make her a bit angrier, she had expected the blonde to lash back at her and say something that would make her shout back, anything to help her vent out her frustration. Instead he had calmly told her to cool off and do what she was supposed to do…this only served to make her all the more angry as he spoke out.

"Shut up! I don't need a man to tell me what to do!"

Naruto then replied to that in his own way.

"Good, then do what you need to do."

The blonde Dread pilot left and that allowed Naruto to cool himself a bit, he had a feeling that this was not going to be the last time he was going to have a conversation with the blonde Dread pilot. He was not against this as he needed to get her out of the depression she was in, right now, the Dread pilots had to rely on her and they needed her to be at her best.

He then looked briefly at the Nirvana and wondered just what was going through Meia's mind.

(Come on Meia-chan, now is not the time for you to die, the crew here need you, they need you to lead them in the other battles, they care about you and you will accomplish only success in breaking their hearts and spirits if you decide to let the past haunt you.)

…

In Meia's mind once more…

She recalled the day that something happened to the systems that her Ohma had tried to design, it failed and it required a full scale evacuation for all the people involved. Her Ohma was staying behind while she and her Fahma were sent to evacuate from the place in the escape pods. She and so many others were trying to escape, there was chaos everywhere as people were screaming and begging to leave the place before the fires spread too far out of control. Already the destruction continued to grow all over the place and the sounds of the screaming grew ever louder.

All the while, Meia begged to her Ohma to come with her, to escape before all was lost to them. But there was little chance of it happening. There was not enough room in the escape pods and there was little time for them all to escape, so the decision was made to let the children, who were young to escape the inferno and the certainty of being killed in the fires alive. Meia was one such child, she tried desperately to reach out to her mother. But her mother smiled sadly and shook her head, and soon she was separated from her mother.

Meia recalled how loud she cried out for her mother and, her screams for her mother and for life began to be mixed in the sounds of crying, wails of fear and loss along with the never ending darkness as well as the feeling being closed in and cut off from all sound and light surrounded by others in the same fear as her.

That was why she feared being in the dark.

…

In the Medical Bay…

Duero was now in a situation that many doctors dreaded, how to save a patient's life with a new device that could potentially save her, or kill her. The wounds he had treated were done and bandaged, but upon closer inspection, there was a crystal lodged in her brain, no doubt from the energy emissions was related to Paeksis.

Duero theorized that the crystal must have come from Meia's Dread, considering that her Dread was damaged in the fight. There was a chance to remove it by other means, but there was no telling if the energy backlash would have a negative or even fatal effect on the Dread pilot if it was removed by conventional means. So here he was…

He had called in Parfait to make a device that would release a certain amount of energy that would be at a frequency that could shatter the crystal without harming Meia, and it would allow the crystal to be broken down to the last shard. The problem was that there was no telling how Meia would react to the energies coming from both the crystal and the device should they clash.

Parfait was already assembling the last parts of the device and both she and Paiway were hoping that this would work in saving Meia." Duero hoped for the same thing to happen, but there was no telling on the results once they got the device online.

They could only hope and pray for the best.

…

Meia looked at her life afterwards, her parents were never found, and even if by some miracle they were alive, she doubted that she and they could ever find the happiness they once shared. After the disaster, her Fahma and Ohma's respective names were dragged through the mud and they were no longer treated with respect and kindness. She fared little better as she turned to a life of crime and street fighting, avoiding people for every time she would be in the area where people gathered, she would hear them.

They would ridicule her and call her nothing more than trash now, she had once been in the spotlight due to her parent's efforts and planes, but now she was nothing. Just a has been and no longer a person who deserved to be respected. She spent her life living on the edge, stealing, mugging, fighting, having one night stands, and more.

All the while she was still hurting and bleeding inside, and wanted to finally die and end it all, but she had no idea how to do it. She would never die like a coward, she had too much pride for that, and she would never fight for anything that she deemed to be an empty cause. She had nowhere else to go…

Until the day came that she was facing Magno and Gascogne, the old lady gave her a laser ring and told her that if she truly wanted to die, she would die doing something both worthwhile and cool.

And that was how she joined the pirates…

…

The stress was all over the ship as it was not limited to just the Dread pilots or the Bridge crew, but also to the engineers as they were trying their best to keep things in the ship from falling apart, and the calls coming in from all channels seemed to drown out the whole mess. In the Register, only Gascogne's reminder of their motto managed to keep the crew in her section of the ship from succumbing to utter panic.

The only one who was currently working on what he needed to do was Naruto himself, he was still with Dita as the VanDread was currently on a refueling status as it had exhausted a good deal of power and needed to recharge, all the while, the former Hokage was still running some ideas in his head to find a way to put the fighter away for good.

However, he then decided to check out on a certain Dread pilot who he had no doubt was still trying to make sense of what she should do right now to get them out of this mess.

…

Jura was currently in the Register and trying to get herself back together, but the goal proved to be a lot harder than she thought. The reserve Dread pilots were now out there to fight as their Dreads were fully repaired, fueled, and armed. They were going to hold the line and keep the enemy from getting the momentum of the battle on their side until Jura and the veteran pilots were back in the fight once their own Dreads were repaired, refueled, and re-armed.

But the leader of the veterans or rather the current leader was still not in the right frame of mind to lead anyone. She was still reeling from the mess that was the result of her first attempts to command the Dread pilots and she was not keen on doing something that may have the very same results.

"I…I…I can't do this…I can't replace Meia…"

Gascogne saw this and was already next to the blonde pilot as Jura was too busy crying to pay attention to the fact that the head of the Register was right next to her.

"You're not supposed to do that Jura."

The blonde looked at the head supplier and Gascogne spoke once more on the matter before the two of them.

"You have to lead the way you feel that you can lead. You're not supposed to be like Meia when it comes to being a leader Jura. You lead in the way that you feel you are best able to do and we'll be with you every step of the way."

"It was here the Naruto appeared and gave Jura a smile and replied."

"Gascogne-san has a point you know. Leadership is about doing what you know and feel is the best course of action, sure you make mistakes, but it's best not to dwell on them. Instead learn from them and grow. Getting angry if things don't go your way or getting mad at others produces nothing worthwhile."

"I recall a young guy I knew of who was once asked to lead a band of students through a training course in one day. The guy was the worst leader one could pick at the time, didn't know the first thing that was needed to be a leader. He had a lot of crazy times with his students, but he was able to teach them some things…things eventually led to the students being the best team in their school and later in life."

The blonde was actually referring to himself in his younger days when he got assigned to help teach Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon. The whole mission was a disaster from the very second he took it when he took them under his wing, but it was not too bad in the end. In a way, he had taught them the need to do whatever you could to help your team and make the most of what you have."

"Don't hesitate to rely on others to help you Jura-san, trust them and find a way to make things work out, doing that is what being a good leader means. Now then, I'll see you out in the battle field."

With that, Naruto smiled once more and decided to get back to his planning on how they were going to fight back.

Gascogne looked at the image of the blonde Shinobi and when the image disappeared, she replied with a smile/

"For a man who certainly is nothing like the men we've seen in the shows back home, he's got a great deal of insight and gives good advice."

Jura couldn't help but nod slightly and then she had an idea that came into mind that should give them a serious edge in the fight before them all.

…

Naruto was still busy thinking about a possible solution when he noted that Dita was crying somewhat, this distressed the blonde as he didn't like to see women crying. He gently touched her shoulder and spoke to her in a calm tone.

"Are you all right Dita-chan?"

"I…I'm so worried Mr. Alien."

"About Meia-chan right?"

The redhead nodded intently. Naruto said nothing and she then spoke out with sadness in her tone.

"Is she really going to make it?"

Naruto smiled gently and replied.

"You have to have faith in Duero Dita-chan, he's a great doctor and he will find a way to save Meia, and you have to have faith in her as well."

Dita looked at him and she nodded and seemed happier now. However, Naruto turned and looked at the Nirvana and hoped that Meia was not planning on giving up now. Because if she did, she was going to be asking for a serious amount of trouble since there was no telling how her loss would hit the crew. He knew it would be devastating, but to what extent, he didn't know nor did he want to know.

It was then that Jura's voice came on the line.

"All Dread pilots are to switch their shields to a different frequency, this should cut off any chance of friendly fire."

Naruto nodded with approval and began to think on what he should be doing.

It was here that he had an idea.

…

In the bridge…

"You want to do what?"

Buzam looked at Naruto with a look of utter shock and surprise in her face, the suggestion that the blonde Shinobi had given them was not exactly common procedure with the use of Dreads in space warfare. In fact NO ONE, not even the finest pilots in the Megele Navy had even come up with something like that before at all.

"I know it's the craziest plan you've heard, but it's not like we've got a load of options here to work with. Besides, that flying dart of theirs is the ring leader, we can waste time and possibly lose pilots trying to chase it, but I doubt it can stand up to what I have in mind. Besides, this isn't the first over the wall crazy scheme I've cooked up before."

Magno could tell that the plan had a great deal of risk, but it seemed to be the forte when it concerned this man.

"Is there anything that you want to add?"

"I need to take command of the Dreads for now, just enough to get this plan underway."

"You need to take command of the Dread pilots?"

"Yeah, I need their help to pull this off and this will not work if they're not going to be part of it either."

Magno nodded and Naruto then replied.

"I just hoping there's going to be a heck of a meal waiting once this whole thing blows over."

"Heh, if you're plan works Naruto, I'll give the crew in the galley to cook you whatever you like and as much as you can stomach."

The blonde smiled warmly at that and replied.

"With a reward like that, who am I to refuse?"

…

In the Medical Bay…

Duero hooked up the device on Meia's head and despite the fact that he was a scientific minded man by nature, as well as knowing that what he was doing was already sacrilegious to the core, he prayed to Grand Pa that despite the animosity between their genders, he would show mercy to Meia and give her the strength to pull through what was about to happen.

He checked her vital stats once more and soon powered up the device

…

Back in space…

Naruto got himself ready for the battle that was to come for him, he had outlined the plan to the Dread pilots and as he expected, many if not all the Dread pilots did not like the idea of him taking command of the whole operation. This was proven true to the bone the very second he spoke.

"All right ladies, listen up and get ready to make the move to your coordinates the second I give the order. All teams report in now."

"A Team ready."

"B Team ready."

"C Team ready."

"D Team ready."

He could tell that the women really didn't like the idea of working with him, but he ignored that and focused on getting his plan into full swing. He checked the progress of his target and the rest of it's cronies. As soon as they were in the planned range, he gave the count down and spoke for the last time.

"It's game time…ten…"

Already the enemy were moving in and a barrage of weapons fire came from the enemy forces and soon hit the Nirvana. The impacts caused the shields to buckle from the impact, but Naruto waited for the right time as he continued to make the countdown.

"nine…eight…seven…"

The Harvesters moved ever closer with their new fighter at the helm of the attack and soon their attacks weakened the shields of the Nirvana.

"Six…five…four…"

Bart screamed out for the plan to be put into action as the pain for him continued to grow, but the blonde relaxed as he looked at the scanners before him. He knew that the enemy was now committed to the attack. Even if they were machines, the fact that they were speeding closer and closer for the kill told him that they had fallen for the bait, hook line and sinker.

And now the fish was going to find out that the joke was on him.

"Three…two…one…ATTACK!"

The signal was out and soon the Dread pilots charged out and were now moving to their locations at high speed. Naruto then moved forward but not before throwing an extra surprise into the mix as he summoned his Kage Bushin again.

"KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Several Kage Bushin of VanDread Dita now joined the fray as they flanked the original VanDread, but they soon broke away and moved into an area that the blonde had in mind. The blonde then had the VanDread ready it's main guns and made some alterations to the power to weaken the shaping field but allow the energy to form smaller spheres. The same was done by the Kage Bushin and soon the plan was in action. Naruto felt the strain and knew that making Kage Bushin for the VanDreads was tough so he had to use it wisely. In a way it was like he limited his use of Senjutsu due to the weaknesses associated with it and as such, he could only make a handful of Kage Bushin.

He smirked at the Harvesters and replied.

"LET'S SEE YOU DODGE THIS!"

The cannons on the original VanDread moved to the forearms, merging with the blades on the same location as the VanDread Kage Bushin did the very same thing.

"RASENGAN ARASHI RENDA!"

The VanDread and it's Kage Bushin fired out a massive barrage of small spheres like the Rasengan, but these were in much larger numbers than before. The spheres were soon reflected by the shields of the Dreads and were soon moving like high speed streaks through the asteroid field. The spheres tore through the asteroids with tremendous force and the debris added to the overall mayhem.

The attack was similar to a massive shotgun blast, unleashing pellets everywhere in a cone. The Harvesters were completely caught off guard and were soon wiped out, even their high speed attack fighter had no avenue of escape as the spheres were launched everywhere and the debris plus the spheres cut off any chance of escape.

The spheres soon detonated with amazing force and light that blinded the pirates briefly, but the results were there. A massive empty space was there in front of the Nirvana and the bridge crew reported with utter awe and relief that there were no Harvester signals anywhere in that void of space.

…

At the same time, Meia cried out in pain as the device was used, Paiway and Parfait were utterly worried, even more so when her vital signs went erratic for a few moments and soon flatlined as she herself fell down motionless.

"MEIA!"

…

In the bridge…

Buzam looked on in shock as she saw the results of what was the most dangerous plan she had ever heard of in her life.

"I still can't believe it…he used the shields of the Dreads to reflect his new attacks as well as those of his' Kage Bushin' and send them all over the place. No one had ever come up with that idea anywhere on Megele. I doubt even the men of Tarak would try something that insane on their own forces."

Magno smiled and chuckled a bit, knowing that Buzam spoke the truth in the matter.

"Insane that plan may be, it worked, and now we are in the clear…I just hope that we have enough food for that blonde when he gets back."

…

Meanwhile, Meia was currently in limbo, thinking that she had finally reached her end and there was nothing left for her to fight for. She could finally rest and place everything away and never have to worry about it ever again. However that was when she found herself in a different place that was nothing like the darkness she had been in earlier. It seemed to be a place like a valley that had deep green grass, the smell of fresh air, and beautiful sky with clouds. It was beautiful to her and this would be a good place for her to finally rest.

"Meia…"

The Dread pilot turned and saw her mother looking at her, she knew that this was just a part of her mind wandering, but it felt too real to be an illusion.

"Mother…I am here."

"You should not give up on life so easily Meia. You are a lot stronger than this."

"No…I was not strong…I was always saying that you don't need love since it makes you weak. I was wrong, you were stronger than me, to do those things, stand by me and Ohma even through everything, you are stronger than me."

"I always ran away, closed away every door to myself, I wanted never to bond with others, to feel love…because I was afraid, afraid of being rejected, of being hurt, of being alone."

" I know…but I have faith in you, being in love and caring for someone is what gave me the strength to live my life with you and your Ohma. I was afraid, but because of love I had the courage to stay. Remember what I said to you before Meia?"

Meia nodded and replied.

"You said that one gains strength and courage by being with those that she cares for."

"Yes, I loved you then when I held you in my arms, and when I allowed to you live, you and your Ohma gave me strength, the strength to live without regret. You have people who care for you back there Meia…they need you, and trust you. You cannot leave them now, you will make them utterly sad if you die now."

She looked at the images of her fellow pirates, and even the men, and heard their advice when she met them. And she recalled also the times she had seen them rely on her and gain strength from her presence.

As she listened to everything that was spoken by those she knew, she saw an image of Naruto himself, when he was smiling, laughing, teasing her, and when he seemed to have a gleam in his eye that made her both curious and wary. There were also the rare times that he was brooding, silent, and seemed to hide a lot more of himself than he let others see. He was an enigma to her in every sense of the word.

And she recalled the time he had talked to her after the mission on the desert planet. Instead of getting angry about the words that came from the blonde, she began to see the logic in his words from before.

…

"You're weak."

"You're weak, not in a physical sense, but an emotional one, something happened to you in the past I take it? Is that why you don't ask for help at all?"

"You want to die don't you? You feel like you have nothing left to live for, that's why you don't want anyone's help, even if it is something that should not be turned down. I can see it in your eyes Meia. That's why you're weak, you have nothing in your heart worth fighting for than meeting your end."

"You think you're the only person I've met who's lost much and suffered Meia? Do you think you are the first to suffer the effects of other people's cruelty, selfishness, hatred and distrust, their scorn, and more? I have met my fair share of people like you…some of them chose to wither away to nothing because they didn't find something to keep living for, others managed to move on, make life worth living, and grew stronger for it."

"Those people chose to live and endure more pain and suffering to make their lives have meaning. Those people were strong, stronger than the first batch since they found something to keep their spirit alive as well as their will to live. I met those people and they were my friends, they showed to me that it takes greater courage to live than it does to die."

"Life is not something you can discard like that Meia, and until you find out what will give you a will to live, you are not dying on my watch. I am going to make sure that you get that foolish and idiotic notion of dying out of your head one way or the other."

…

What made him act like that? The way he spoke to her told her that he meant those words, meaning that he was not lying about meeting such people and seeing them change. She had ignored those things before but now that she thought about what he had said to her and also what she began to think about concerning the others on the Nirvana.

She then turned to her mother and spoke.

"I want to say so much to you…I want to apologize for ever being the way I was to you…"

"I have already forgiven you long ago Meia, there is nothing to apologize for."

"But there's so many things I want to say to you."

"I know, and I have no doubt that it will be interesting. But that will come in time Meia, you have a future waiting for you, reach out for it and hold on tight. I will be with you no matter what as long as you remember what I said about love and caring for others."

"Mother…"

Soon the images faded away and she found herself alone in darkness…

Meia looked at the darkness once more that was all around her and it was then that she saw two glowing portals…like doors before here, and both doors were beckoning to her. One seemed to show her a place where there was peace, rest and a final end to all her sufferings, but a place of unending darkness. The other door showed her a world filled with hardship, suffering, pain, and more, but in light itself.

She took a deep breath and thought about all the things she had been able to think about, and made her choice.

…

In the Medical Bay…

"it's so bright…"

Meia opened her eyes into the light and soon found herself being looked over by Paiway and Parfait, both girls were sobbing hard as they looked at her with utter relief in their eyes.

"You came back Meia!"

"We were so worried…all of us were!"

Meia looked at both the women and saw the tears in their eyes and saw that Naruto did have a point though she doubted that he was around to make any comments. For that she was thankful as she was not yet in the mood to tangle with the blonde Shinobi and decided to speak to the two women who were there.

"You guys stop doing that…"

She moved her hand to her face and see if she was truly whole. The very second that she found out that her circlet was missing, she quickly felt a great deal of panic in her body and looked around to see where the last reminder of her past was. She then spotted Duero who had the item in his hand as the man looked at her with some level of relief and calm.

"Here is it, we kept it close for you, this must be very valuable to you isn't it?"

Meia looked at the circlet and replied in a calmer tone.

"Not really, it's a reminder."

…

Later…

Meia got herself out of bed and was now moving around to see what had happened to the others when she had been taken out from the battle by the Harvesters' latest toy. She had been told by Buzam what had occurred and how the battle had ended. She had to admit that Naruto's plan was bold and very much a dangerous and high risk move. They agreed that it seemed to be a running theme when it came to that blonde Shinobi.

However, being who she was, she was not keen on being in the sidelines and got herself out of bed and here she was. She made her way to the galley and saw that the vast majority of the Dread pilots were there. All of them looked like they had been celebrating and partying all the while. Jura and Barnette were gently snorting there together on the floor while leaning on a table. The other Dread pilots were scattered all over the place and there were plates and bottles everywhere. The Dread pilots were not the only ones there as the bridge crew with the exception of Ezra were there, and the Register Crew were there as well, though naturally Gascogne was not there with them as she had to relax in her own fashion.

It looked like a fiesta back on Megele had been taken completely into the spirit of things and there was no doubt in her mind that the cleaning staff were going to have a busy day. This would not have sat well with her and she would have warned them not to do this again as this was a breach of discipline.

But she decided to ignore that for now and relaxed her stance.

After all, they deserved this celebration, they had won a major victory against heavy odds, without her this time.

She moved to where Dita was, expecting to find Naruto as there was a massive tower of plates there next to the redhead who was smiling and sleeping soundly. She was surprised to find that the blonde was not with the redhead and seemed to be elsewhere. The only thing that was showing that he was there was a pair of chopsticks in a bowel that no doubt held ramen which she knew at the blonde's favorite food.

She looked and recalled all her encounters with the blonde Shinobi, she had no idea what to make of him. The only thing that she could agree on was the fact that the man was not someone to underestimate.

"He ate so much of that ramen and other dishes we were all wondering just how much he could take before popping like a balloon."

The young Dread pilot leader turned to see Magno next to her, she had been thinking so much that the elderly woman had managed to get close to her without her noticing.

"Captain."

"That young man is just like you, in some ways. He can be a leader and be serious when he wants to be. But he shows his feelings, speaks his mind, and does not hesitate toe state what he likes and dislikes. And despite his antics…he's a lot smarter and more mature than he looks."

"I guess you are right."

"Meia, I know all about your life, but I feel that now is the time to seek forgiveness for yourself, you do not need to fear the past anymore do you?"

"I…don't know."

Magno smiled a bit and replied.

"I understand that it's not easy, but it can be done, all you have to do is take the very first step. It might be the hardest, but it is a start in the right direction regardless."

…

As Meia moved about through the ship and soon she found herself in the gym, she was about to leave when she saw something at the corner of her eye and looked to see Naruto currently doing several Taijutsu exercises and he was bare with most of his upper clothing and he wore only his pants and his gloves as well as his forehead protector. She looked at him and saw that he seemed to be totally focused on what he was doing and she noted some sort of tattoo on his stomach that was in a fashion that completely was not like the tattoos some women would wear.

As she looked at the man, she couldn't help but notice that he looked to be in the bloom of health and also seemed to be in fighting shape. She wondered why he would say those things to her, both to surprise her and confuse her. She placed those thoughts aside and coughed a bit. That was enough to make the blonde stop in his training actions and look at her direction with some level of surprise.

"Ah…Meia-chan, you're awake, I thought you were still recovering in your room after the surgery."

Meia replied to that.

"I'm fine."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he didn't believe that entirely but decided not to push the issue and said nothing as he reached for a towel and began to dry himself as he was sweating the whole time.

Meia for some reason couldn't help but notice that the tattoo that Naruto had on his stomach was not fading away at all, showing that it was not the kind that one would be able to wash away. Before she could stop herself, the blue haired girl began to look a bit more than she intended as she looked from his tattoo to his chest. The second the blonde sighed out at drying himself, she stopped and wondered just why she was suddenly interested in looking at the blonde in this state he was in.

She directed her attention to the man's face as the blonde looked at her with a slight glint in her eye that faded as he spoke.

"Either way, it's nice to see you up and about Meia-chan, excuse me while I get my other clothes."

Meia nodded and that was when she saw that his clothes had the splotches of blood and in that moment, she thought that he was injured during the battle. She then spoke to the man and wondered if there was some injury that he suffered and bothered not to show to the people in the Medical Bay.

"Are you injured?"

"What? Oh…no, this was your blood, I was the one who pried you out of your cockpit and carried you to the gurney to take you to the Medical bay for treatment. I'm not injured after all so there's not need to worry about me just yet, though that would be nice."

Meia was surprised by the discovery that it was Naruto who had willingly gotten her out of her cockpit, she had gone to see her Dread when it was repaired and was amazed that she was actually taken out from her machine after the hit it took. She left it alone before going to the galley and came here to the gym.

She soon spoke to the blonde who was now taking his clothes no doubt to be cleaned while still remaining naked above the waist.

"You saved me?"

"Yeah, you needed to be treated for your injuries, and besides that, I didn't want the crew to lose heart if you didn't make it."

"I…thank you."

Naruto looked at Meia and did so for a full minute to see if she was just pulling his leg on the thank you she just gave him, but he saw that she meant it and he relaxed afterwards. He smiled at that and replied to her statement.

"Not a problem Meia-chan, I guess you'll be taking back your position as Dread Squadron leader?"

Meia nodded and the blonde smiled even more and replied to that.

"Great, they work a load better if you were around to lead them after all, I think that this might be the first and last time they will take orders from a man after all. You are a better leader for them than I was, though it was good to lead a team once again after so long."

Meia noted that and spoke once more to the blonde, she should have placed that aside and let the matter be, but this was something that seemed to compel her to find out more about the blonde who was there before her. There was a lot about Naruto that they had no idea about and this might be a chance to learn more. Meia reminded herself that she was doing this to make sure to know more about the blonde to be prepared for more things that might happen when he was involved.

So why was it there seemed to be a tiny voice that told her that she was lying?

She ignored that and asked her very first question.

"You've led people before?"

Naruto looked at her, guessing that she wanted to know more about him and that seemed to amuse the blonde considerably and decided to answer her question truthfully. He could have tried teasing her, but seeing that she had just come back from near death, he knew that now was not the time for unnecessary jokes on his part.

"Yeah, quite a few times actually, many of them were a bit younger than me…and others were also very important to me as well. I managed to get many of them back alive, and they were all my friends as well. Along with some who I considered allies in some…rather dangerous battles, some of which I prefer not to talk about actually."

Meia noted a faraway look in the blonde's eyes and she had a feeling that he was not lying to her and her instincts had not led her wrong just yet. She also could tell that this was not something that she could force the blonde to talk about and decided to drop the subject for the time being.

"I see."

Naruto then grinned and replied.

"Anyway, saving people is something I do my best to accomplish, even more so if it's a lady. I guess doing the right thing is in my blood and like I said, I would never abandon those who are my allies no matter the situation they and I happen to find ourselves in. Anyway, thanks for talking to me Meia-chan, and I think that means we're on better terms now right?"

"I…suppose so."

"Great, anyway, I hope we can be on better terms later on, and who knows…it might go beyond that as well."

Meia looked at the blonde in confusion and replied.

"What do you mean by that?"

Naruto smiled and moved away and left Meia to try and figure out just what he meant by that statement. And she wondered just what she was going to do when it concerned the blonde male who was still a good mystery to her.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Now with this done, let's hope that we can be assured that VanDread: The Fox is not dead but is alive and kicking. I am hoping that this update will be enough for all readers and that I can crank up another chapter before I ship off to spend some much needed time on Christmas vacation with my family and also my nephew and nieces.

I hope that in the next chapter that I get to crank out, we will get the chance for Naruto to reveal his more…perverted side and this might actually start the whole idea of Naruto landing a few of the ladies, with three of the women being already familiar for all the readers here in this website. Now Naruto is not going to go all grabby here, due to the fact that he has learned very easily that getting grabby with a woman right away is going to get you a slap in the face…even more so when the women in question happen to come from a society that view men as the enemy.

It's been a while since I saw VanDread so I need to get a chance to review and refresh my brain a bit to make sure that I get the details right and make a good story. There is also the fact that since we're talking about Naruto here and he's already had his experiences with being intimate with women, he is going to reach the point that he is going to make the first move as it were and the results can be rather interesting for the women.

…

This is still under construction though so I will not be sure on when I will crank out the next chapter. And as such, I will hope that the next chapter will be up to the standard that I have been working for some time. And I will do my best not to include things that are from my other stories and that should be enough to get me back on track. I read the reviews about that and I apologize for making those errors so I hope that the next chapter will be good enough for all the readers.

Bye!


	7. Getting To Know One Another

VanDread: The Fox

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto or VanDread, I wish I did though…

Chapter 6

Getting to know one another…

( ): Thoughts

((" ")): Kurama

…

In one of the rooms…

Dita was humming gently to herself as she continued to do some sewing work on a pillow with an alien on the back. The pillow was very well made and not the kind one gave to anyone unless the person was important to them. She was not alone as Paiway was currently watching her friend make the present, Dita gave a slight yelp of pain but was able to finish her creation and smiled happily at the work that she had been able to make.

As soon as she was done with her work, she looked happily at it and it was here that Paiway spoke.

"Are you making that for someone Dita?"

Dita gave a bit of a smile and a light blush as she already knew just who she was going to give this to. Ever since Naruto had been part of their crew and helping them out whenever he was able to do so, she had wanted to thank him for all he had done, and this pillow was the result of her hard work. And the idea of him welcoming this was something she was very much looking forward to.

Paiway was quick to assume that Dita was not going to give it to anyone and she was just as quick to make a move on it.

"Well if it's not for anyone, can I have it?"

Dita naturally spoke as she held the pillow close to her and smiled as she shook her head.

"Sorry Paiway, but I am making this for Mr. Alien!"

Paiway gave a grimace and made her unhappiness plain with her frog puppet.

"Barf, Kero!"

…

In Naruto's room…

The blonde was tired from the hard work that he had been on when he had gone to work on his Vanguard and he was eager to finally get some much needed shut eye. But he was not sleepy enough to not notice that someone had been into his room. His honed ninja reflexes kicked in and he took out a kunai and moved in.

It took a moment or two for him to realize that the one who had been in his room was a woman and he looked at the area to find what else he could to find out who was the mystery woman of the Nirvana who came into his private domain. He got his answer to find none other than Dita Liebely as the young redhead slept in his bed, apparently she had been the one who cleaned up the place while he had been busy coming back from working on that Vanguard of his. The way she looked was more than enough to make the blonde's mind begin to cook up a number of less than innocent images and it took a bit of reminding himself on his promise to Magno not to do anything frisky with the crew to put those images to sleep for a bit.

He moved closer to see how she was doing and as he moved closer to her, he was able to get a good look on just how attractive the young redhead was. He couldn't help but smile warmly at the way she looked as she was undeniably attractive in a cute and bubbly way. The fact that she was very well formed for her age added to the whole thing and gave her the cute and innocent but utterly sexy look at the same time. He moved away a bit when she moaned a bit and moved away her arm to reveal her figure hugging tank top.

Apparently to clean the place, Dita had removed her jacket and that had made her look a lot more attractive as the blonde got to see her without the blanket on her.

Naruto blushed which in itself was amusing as the only times he had ever blushed was when he was intimate with the women who he had grown to love and care for in his long life back in Konoha as Hokage. He had to admit that he was getting very tempted by the way the redhead was lying on his bed of all things and already his imagination was getting the better of him. But he managed to keep himself from acting as he contented himself to watching over her and wait for her to wake up. But that did not mean that his imagination was restrained as many thoughts began to work their way into his head.

(Damn it….I should just close my eyes and stop looking at her.)

But that was not going to be enough as Naruto sat down on the bed to wait for Dita to wake up and then he could find out just what exactly was the reason that Dita was in his room of all places. It was not going to be long for him as the young Dread pilot finally decided to wake up and she smiled happily at Naruto as soon as she realized that the one she had been waiting for was now here with her.

Naruto spoke then to her.

Nice to see you awake Dita-chan."

"Mr. Alien! I was waiting for you."

"So I see, what exactly are you doing in my room then?"

Dita showed the pillow with a smile on her face and spoke to the blonde Shinobi.

"I made this for you! I wanted to make something for you in thanks for all that you have done for us, and from me most of all."

Naruto couldn't help but find the pillow to be slightly humorous as the alien in the pillow was obviously not something he personally would like to keep with him for more than simple reasons. But he also noted that this was well made and very much a useful gift and he was not the kind to turn down something that was given to him by someone who was a nice person. He took the pillow and noted a smell of flowers and guessed that Dita must have personally cleaned and scented the pillow.

He smiled slightly and took the pillow into his hands and found it to be rather comfortable and he spoke to Dita.

"This is for me?"

"Yes! Do you like it Mr. Alien?"

Naruto decided to test the pillow as he placed the pillow on the bed and lie down on it and this allowed the blonde to relax as he found the pillow to be very well made and also very comfortable. He smiled and replied to Dita's previous question with a lot of honesty in his voice since he knew that she deserved the truth.

"It's very nice, and certainly comfortable to sleep on. Thank you for making this for me Dita-chan."

Dita was utterly happy at the praise being given to her by Naruto and she couldn't help but move closer to speak to him, unaware of the fact that considering her position and Naruto's own lying state of position, she was allowing him a very good chance to see her in a very attractive position. And the fact that they were still on a bed was more than enough to play merry hell on the blonde Shinobi's brain.

Naruto was doing his best to keep himself from doing something bad, but that did not mean in the slightest that he was not being affected by the closeness of the redhead. He could not help himself as his body was getting a lot more aroused and it was a miracle that Dita did not notice the way he was feeling right now as a certain part of his female anatomy was starting to react.

(Damn…this is soooo…hold it you pervert! Now is not the time for this for crying out loud. She's too naïve and not taught on how it really is between men and women.)

Naruto was working very hard to keep his thoughts focused and thankfully he was able to do so when it looked like his perverted side was winning.

"I am very happy for the praise Mr. Alien! Anyway, can you show me some of your other cool powers? I really want to see more of them Mr. Alien!"

Naruto could not help but find the joyful and eager expressions on Dita's face to be very enjoyable and besides, he did not mind. He was in the mood to play with his powers a bit since despite his maturity, he had used his abilities for entertainment value every now and then. And besides that, he was going to enjoy the chance to cut loose and make people smile even more as well as have fun. He did the same thing for his kids and grand kids so what was wrong with this one.

…

Later in the Bio-Garden of the Nirvana…

Dita could not help cheer as Naruto was making a few demonstrations for her in the Bio-Garden, displaying his chakra based abilities, most of which were not going to be used in combat since there was no battle just yet. The first part of his little demonstration was how he was able to change places with something with that being his Replacement Jutsu, this was something that Dita was impressed with. Next he did his Henge and Dita could not help but laugh at the way Naruto acted when he turned into the Prime Minister of Tarak and acted like a complete louse. He then turned into Meia and did some funny actions that had Dita in stitches as she tried to hold her sides as she laughed until she was in tears. And right now Naruto was actually walking on the lake there and the redhead could only look in awe at the whole thing.

"WOW!"

Naruto could not help but find her childish joy at seeing him walk on water very cute and he began to do cartwheels and flips on the water and even did some skating style moves as well, much to the redhead's utter happiness.

"You're so cool Mr. Alien!"

Naruto grinned and he soon moved back towards Dita and flipped off the lake and landed on the bank next to Dita and gave the bubbly woman a bow. Dita naturally was very happy at how it was that he was able to do and she showed it with unbridled joy and wonder in her face, eyes and words.

"I really wish I can be like you Mr. Alien."

Naruto smirked a bit at that as he sat down next to Dita and replied.

"Really now? Why would you want to be like me?"

"I can really make people smile and laugh with those cool powers, I want to make people happy and not sad. And if I had your powers, I could make sure that those bad aliens never hurt anyone ever again."

Naruto could tell that Dita was being very serious about her desires to make people happy and not sad, as well as also help protect people. He had to admit that had Dita been born in his reality, she would have been a very unique person and would have made a ninja of unique status, that and the fact that she was very attractive but brave when she had to be, meant that she was capable of many things despite her childish nature.

"I can see that Dita-chan, tell me, what exactly is your home-world like?"

"You want to know about my world Mr. Alien?"

"Sure, tell you what, you tell me about your world, and I'll you about mine and some of the places I have been to."

Dita gave a thought on that and nodded eagerly, sure she had left her home planet behind to join the pirates, but she did have good memories of her home so no sense not sharing them to the blonde Shinobi. Besides, if she did tell him about her world, then perhaps he might tell her more about his world.

…

The two decided to trade stories back and forth, Naruto was mightily impressed with the ideas of how high tech Megele was but he did not like the way the women acted. Using that much resources was foolish and wasteful in his mind, so much water, electricity and more wasted on frivolous pursuits. The women of Megele ought to have tried living in his world, seeing as how they made sure to use resources to the fullest. Suna being the most obvious as despite having access to water, Temari's people were very serious when it came to supplies of water, they made sure never to waste a drop on matters that could be handled without wasting water.

It was here that he learned that Magno had started the pirates because her housing unit, a whole apartment complex holding hundreds of people was locked down because of power and water shortages…all for the vanity of one of the higher ranking houses on Megele. In that instance Naruto sympathized with the elderly woman very well.

As soon as it was over, he told Dita about his world, his REAL world and while he kept some of the more serious details hidden, the rest he was willing to share. He was not going back there so there was little danger awaiting the Hidden Villages as well the Elemental Nations.

…

"Wow…so you really lived on a world where men and women lived together Mr. Alien?"

"Yep, the women there can be anything they want and I have to say a lot of them are very strong and capable. Plus they can be very kind yet dangerous if they get riled. That's why I made a promise to your Captain not to do anything that could get me in trouble. I respect and admire women since I met more than my fair share of women who were truly worth respecting. And many of them were ninja too."

"Really? They had very cool powers like you Mr. Alien?"

"Yes, some of them could actually breathe fire, others can heal the sick, some can unleash winds that are very strong and more. I even had a Kunoichi, that's what female ninja are called by the way, who was the strongest woman in the ninja world and the best healer too, as my adopted mother."

Dita was wide eyed at that as she could not begin to guess how powerful this woman was if Mr. Alien held her in such high regard.

"She was you're adopted fahma?"

"Huh? What's that mean?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, fahma means mother, female mother since we obviously don't have men on our world, There are two parents, a ohma who is the female father, and fahma is the female mother. Do you want me to tell you how we have children on my world Mr. Alien?"

Naruto thought it over carefully and decided not to ask since now was not the time.

"Nah, leave me in suspense for now, anyway, my adopted fahma's name was Tsunade, Tsunade Senju, or I called her Tsunade-obasan. She's one of the strongest Kunoichi in the world and the best healer like I said, and I should know, I fought her once when I was a kid, right around Paiway-chan's age."

"Really? Why did you fight her if she was going to be your fahma?"

"It's complicated but let's just say that we eventually got along though that never stopped me from being quick to make comments to her or her smacking me around for said comments. After we mended fences, she had given her faith in me for my dream and she also became my fahma in all but name. She might not like it when I act like a brat, but she likes it that I am always honest and focused on my dreams."

"How strong is she?"

Naruto spoke about what he recalled about Tsunade and Dita was wide eyed as she spoke.

"She could really do all of that?"

"Yep, that's why she was considered the strongest Kunoichi in the world, the only one I know that came to her level was her apprentice Sakura, who I happen to have…a very close relationship with. Here's a picture of her as well."

Naruto took out a picture he had of Tsunade when she was alive and was in her specially made Henge and Dita could not help but be amazed. Tsunade was very attractive and was very well built, with a bust that rivaled even Jura Basil Elden and the blonde Dread pilot was seen as one of the most endowed in the pirates.

"Wow, your adopted fahma is really beautiful."

Naruto grinned a bit at that as he placed away the picture and replied.

"Yeah, she is, but Tsunade-obasan did live a lie, but that's not my place to comment about, Suffice to say, despite her flaws, she was one of my precious people even if she's no longer among the living "

Dita gave Naruto a look of sympathy and Naruto smiled at her kindness as he spoke again.

"Anyway, I should show you just where I get my powers, I already told Duero about it so I guess telling you, or rather showing you is not a bad thing."

Naruto placed his hand before Dita and soon summoned his chakra to form a small sphere of burning blue chakra, much to the delight and awe of Dita as she looked at it. The redhead's blue eyes were wide as she thought of touching it, but pushed back as if she thought she would be burned if she did touch it. Naruto saw that and smiled at her to say that she could go ahead and do that. The young redhead did so and she was amazed that the energy did not burn her, it felt warm, yet comforting and energetic and she was quick to show her appreciation.

"Wow…what is this Mr. Alien?"

"This Dita-chan is chakra, this is an energy that exists in two forms, physical energy and spiritual energy. Once the two energies are combined then chakra is formed and with it, you can do a lot of things. This is actually the energy I use for many of my techniques, namely the ones you've seen me do. Plus this energy is seen in all living things, including you and everyone else on the ship."

Dita was wide eyed at that and looked at Naruto with awe as she quickly understood just what the meaning behind such a statement was.

"You mean…that everyone in the Nirvana has this chakra in them? Even me?"

"Yep, the reason I know this is because I have developed some level of sensing someone's chakra and everyone here, including you, has a good amount of it."

"Cool! So does that mean I can actually do those amazing things you do?"

Naruto scratched his head a bit as he tried to come up with a good answer. Teaching someone how to use chakra was a big deal and something that one did not do easily. Besides, just cause everyone had chakra, did not mean that they could do what they wanted with it. He recalled his friend Rock Lee who could not use Genjutsu or Ninjutsu so he focused his chakra for other matters, namely for unleashing powerful attacks with his Eight Gates training from Might Guy. He then decided to be straight with Dita and replied.

"You might, but you still need training Dita-chan, I have to test you if you can use your chakra the right way, and that takes time. I will think about teaching you or anyone else on the Nirvana when I have the time and I have to ask the Captain if she'll let me. Teaching someone to use chakra is not easy nor is it a quick process so I hope you can understand if teaching you how to use your chakra is not on my to do list."

Dita pouted as she understood it but smiled as she was happy to at least know that she could do the same cool tings that Naruto could do. And she then decided to give the blonde Jinchuuriki and former Hokage the dreaded sad puppy dog eyes look.

"But will you teach me first Mr. Alien, pretty please?"

Naruto could not help but mentally groan as he knew the look and silently asked the Kami why was it that this look was made so hard to resist.

…

Later…

Meia was busy reading some reports on a nearby note pad when Dita walked into the room with a happy expression on her face. Meia had no problem guessing what the reason the bubbly and cheerful Dread pilot was this happy. She had seen Naruto in action earlier and she had to admit that his powers were interesting and rather unexpected. Though she was hardly pleased with the way he had actually taken her appearance and did some things that made her look funny. She had to restrain herself from reacting badly to the sight before her and admired slightly the fact that he was able to do that was impressive.

She moved to face Dita and spoke to her.

"You seem to be in a very good mood Dita."

"Oh, hi there Meia, I was having a really good time with Mr. Alien!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! His powers are so cool and he really can be very nice as well. He also told me so many good stories about himself and the places he had been to. Did you know he came from a world where men and women actually lived together?"

Meia raised an eyebrow at that, the idea of men and women living together on the same planet sounded utterly ludicrous to some people in Megele. But considering the fact that Naruto himself had stated that he was not from Tarak, then perhaps what Dita told her right now made sense.

"Did he now?"

"Yep! And you know what's interesting about that too Meia? Mr. Alien said the women in his world are also armed with really cool powers! And he said that some of them were really strong women and even led nations alongside men too! He actually said to me that the previous leader of his home was a really strong woman who was like a fahma or mother to him even if they were not related."

That made Meia curious even though she did not show it, the idea of Naruto coming from a world where men lived with women was strange, but to discover that the women there had powers like him was intriguing. It could explain why was it he was very different around women, if the women had powers as he did, then it would also explain why he was respectful towards them. Though that could also explain why he was so…flirty with them as well.

"What exactly did Naruto tell you about his world and who was this woman ninja he said was like a fahma to him?"

"Well, Mr. Alien said that his world has a lot of continents like ours do, and it's got a lot of different climates too. Snowy places, swamps, deserts like on the men's world, fields, canyons, and so much more. There are so many villages and cities too but it has all men and women living there! He also said that it's not as high tech as Megele but not as overcrowded too! He told me that there were women who were ninja too, they were called Kunoichi…or something like that. And they could be healers, poison makers, and fighters too and they all had different powers. The Kunoichi he called his adopted fahma was someone he called…what was that name…ah, Tsunade-obasan. He called her the strongest women in the whole of the world he lived in, and she was too!"

"Oh?"

Dita told Meia about Tsunade's strength and how Naruto had met her before and that was enough to make Meia raise an eyebrow in surprise as she replied.

"Hold it, are you telling me that this…Tsunade person Naruto told you about could actually shatter stone walls and cause the earth to split with a fist or smash boulders with a kick? Dita, that's impossible…no woman is THAT strong! Gascogne is by far the strongest one in the whole ship when it comes to physical actions and even she can't do that! Maybe Naruto was lying to you."

Dita shook her head and replied seriously.

"No he would not Meia! I can tell that Mr. Alien was not lying to me. He was really sincere about what he said to me, he told me himself that when he first met Tsunade, she hit him with only her finger and sent him flying back at least the length of a street. She also happens to be the finest healer he knows of except someone he called Sakura who was this Tsunade's student. Besides that, he showed me a picture of Tsunade and she is really beautiful Meia. Though Mr. Alien said that she lived a lie at times though I had no idea what that meant."

"But how can you be sure about all of what he said to you was true?"

"Well think about it Meia, we saw Mr. Alien show some really cool powers already, who's to say that this Tsunade he considered his fahma is able to do all that?"

That very pointed statement from Dita made Meia stop in what she was about to say and to think a bit more. Naruto already displayed some very unique powers before them, namely with his ability to make copies of himself, and also take the form of anyone in the crew, along with being able to turn into a woman. So maybe the women in his world had such powers and this Tsunade…could indeed be that strong.

That had just made her wonder more on the mystery that surrounded the blonde ninja who was now part of their crew. And there was now a part of her mind that wanted to know more about Naruto and who he really was.

"Did Naruto say anything else?"

Dita thought about it more and replied with a smile.

"Mr. Alien said that the source of their powers was something called chakra and he said that anyone has chakra! Even me! I was so excited by that and I asked him to teach me how to be like him too! But he said that he will have to think it over for now so I am willing to wait."

"He said that chakra is in anyone?"

"Yes! Isn't that cool Meia? Who knows, maybe he can teach us all how to do some of his powers too!"

Meia shook her head a bit and replied.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Dita okay? We'll see if Naruto's words hold water first before we go ahead and ask him for it. I don't think it's that easy for someone to have the kind of powers he has."

Truth be told however, Meia was now all the more interested even though that was only a part of her mind. The idea that Naruto COULD teach anyone his powers was very…interesting, and worrying. If anyone on Megele or Tarak knew about this, who knew what they would do to Naruto. She was not going to let them get their hands on him since who knows how much damage they could do.

Of course despite herself, there was a rather TINY part of her mind that was saying that keeping Naruto away from them for that reason, was not entirely accurate.

…

In a corridor of the Nirvana…

Paiway was busy finding out what she could about Naruto while he was currently there chatting with Gascogne outside of the Register where he worked on occasion. She had heard about how he was able to take the form of a woman who would have been quite the catch back on Megele and could not believe it. Imagine…a man who could become a woman? It was…weird and utterly crazy.

She wondered what was it that fascinated her friend Dita about that blonde haired man so much, sure he certainly acted nothing like the other men, namely the other blonde male, but there had to be more to it than that. The powers he had certainly helped answer some of her questions but she was still eager to learn more. The fact that he also seemed to be very friendly with women also added to the mystery.

As Gascogne left, she began to follow Naruto who moved towards the hanger bay, she followed him as quietly as she could manage, all the while copying notes on her little notebook. She moved on but was surprised to find that Naruto was no longer in sight. She looked about and wondered just where did the blonde Shinobi go since she had been following him rather closely. But now it seemed that he had given her the proverbial slip.

"You know, if you want to follow and sneak up on someone trained as a ninja all their lives, Pai-chan, you'd be better off training as one yourself."

The young girl froze and then looked around to try and find Naruto, and she was shocked that he seemed so close to her. She did not see any trace of him and wondered if she had only been hearing things. That is until she looked up and saw Naruto standing there on the roof on one of the beams and out of her sight had she not looked up. The blonde was grinning at her and she was wide eyed as she could see that he was merely standing there and she spoke out.

"H-H-How a-a-are you doing that?"

Naruto replied in a very relaxed fashion as he casually deactivated his chakra and landed right in front of Paiway.

"I am using the powers Dita-chan told you about Pai-chan, it allowed me to stick to the metal beams above and hide out of your view until I revealed myself. Had I not spoken to you, you would have never found me. So, what can I do for you today?"

Paiway did not know what to say to Naruto as she had not expected to see him doing that, sure the rumors were about and she had seen him in action with the Vanguard he piloted, but that was pretty much it. Seeing him do that was something that she had never expected before and therefore it took a while before she finally responded to Naruto's question.

"I was curious on why you act…like you do around women."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that and replied.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"You're being nice to us, you actually praising women for their looks, you like eating our food to the point you ate enough food to feed a family of five for a week, you don't mind hanging out with women, you even HUGGED Dita as if you had no fear of her. In fact, you are totally NOT what I expected from a man of Tarak."

Naruto snickered at that and replied.

"That's because like I told the Captain, I'm not from Tarak, in fact I come from a world that has men AND women who live together. Why else do you think am I so used to being around women?"

The young girl as not entirely convinced and used her frog puppet to speak in her cartoon style voice while using said puppet for added effect.

"That's pretty hard to believe, there's no way men and women can live on the same planet together, Kero!"

Naruto laughed a bit at that and replied in his own way.

"Well it's the only truth I have to work with, and besides that, the world I come from is nowhere near Tarak or Megele so to say that the only worlds where men and women can be found is in your world and that of the other men in the ship. Besides, if I recall what the captain said, the Nirvana used to be part of a fleet of ships that left the planet called Earth to colonize other worlds. So that means that there were other ships in the fleet too and they no doubt could have had men and women in them when they came to other worlds."

Paiway remained a bit silent at that as despite being a young kid, and a young girl, she did know some of the history. And then decided to ask the question that she flet could finally put the blonde on the spot.

"So if you are not from Tarak, then why were you on Tarak for so long?"

Naruto gave a slight look of disgust and replied.

"Honestly, I have no clue, all I know is I woke up and I was stuck there so I had to keep my knowledge about what women really were a secret, or else the would have either shot me or thought I was nuts or something and send me to one of their 're-education centers'."

"Their 're-education' centers, what the heck are those?"

Naruto did not like to tell Paiway about that, during his time in Tarak, he had heard about places where men who had become 'corrupted' by information that they considered against the teachings of Grand Pa were sent, to be re-educated. The blonde was not fooled by the name of re-education centers or the term re-educated, they were in essence nothing more than torture centers and the men were being convinced to follow the propaganda crap released by the propaganda office. He was not going to let Paiway find out about those things and decided to make it so.

"It's very boring stuff so I doubt that it's that interesting since it's a Tarak thing."

"Anyway, you like puppet you have right Paiway-chan?"

Paiway looked at Naruto and replied in a slightly wary tone.

"I do, and I am only eleven so I doubt that it's a problem for you to ponder about."

Naruto grinned as he decided to show her his personal frog wallet Gama-chan.

"Don't worry, I might be older, but I keep precious things of my childhood close to, this is the wallet I have kept since I was a little tyke. Pai-chan, I like you to meet Gama-chan."

Paiway looked at the frog wallet and could not help but look at the smiling blonde and spoke to him seriously.

"You own a frog wallet?"

"Yep, and why I like orange, it's the mixed color from both of my parents in their hair and their nick names. I'll tell you about it some other time, but for now I have to go and get a bit of training into myself after I have a quick trip to the Medical Bay, Duero's been insisting on another medical checkup. Bye Paiway-chan!"

Paiway looked at Naruto and sighed as she took out her notebook and wrote down something.

"Men are weird, but Naruto is REALLY weird, but at least he's not acting like a complete louse."

…

In the gym…

Naruto decided to get himself back into shape as he was now bare of most of his clothes and only wore his mesh shorts. Thus his body was very much exposed as he began his training regime and started with some basic exercises. He had just arrived to the gym minutes after being checked up by Duero, who was soon being greeted by the plucky head engineer Parfait, who then began to help Duero out when one of the monitors in the Medical Bay began to act up.

Naruto bid the two farewell and saw the way they were acting together and he could not help but wonder with a smile if those two were going to hit it off. Duero seemed to be the open minded sort, so unlike his blonde counterpart Bart. And Parfait was just as open minded, seeing as how comfortable she was working alongside a man, unlike the others thus far.

The blonde got back to focusing on the basic exercises he was going to do, with the basics being standard Taijutsu moves as he had left his weapons back in his room and he decided to have a chance to test out some of his moves and he summoned some of this Kage Bunshin.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

The blonde was soon surrounded by at least five of his Kage Bunshin, and soon the blonde was being attacked by his Kage Bunshin. The advantage of this training was obvious as Naruto's Kage Bunshin knew all of his moves so they could counter him, forcing him to adapt a new series of moves to compensate and in turn, should he use Kage Bunshin, the ones he made will be able to use those same new moves to disorient his foes. In a way, this was like his time fighting his Dark self back in the Falls of Truth during the opening stages of the Fourth Shinobi War.

The battle between him and his Kage Bunshin was pretty intense and it was a good thing that there were not that many people in the gym since Naruto was going all out. Had one come in and not understand the complexity of the training regime, it would have looked chaotic, bu to Naruto, it was part of his daily routines and it helped keep him in top fighting form.

…

Later…

As soon as the battle/training session was over, Naruto dispelled his Kage Bunshin and soon sat down to help is body recover. It had been a bit since he had done this in a sense so it took some time to adjust. But at least he now had some new moves to add and new attacks to use when he had to face a new foe.

Naruto decided to lie down and do some breathing exercises to relax himself as he was at least able to bleed off some of the stress of the time he spent on this ship that was filled to the brim with women. There was no doubt in his mind that had he been alive and with him on this escapade in space, Jiraiya would felt he went to heaven as he was surrounded by SO many hot women and NOT in a planet filled with men who had close or pretty much heavy fear of women. He never did get the spelling right, but he could tell that whatever it was that made men deathly afraid of women was something the Pervy Sage ranted about on more than one instance on why the Kami felt that including it into men was a need.

Back then when he was still a kid, he never really got it, but now that he was older after being married, he could understand why Jiraiya freaked out about it. And even he was confused as to why men would be afraid of women to such a level that they would break down like that. Sure some women were scary, he should know, but not THAT scary.

He was so deep in thought that he was not aware that he was not alone as he soon opened his eyes and found himself looking up at Jura. Who was on his side, allowing him to see her lush form…from the floor, and damn what a sight! Her more than ample bust was there and all he had to do was move his head a bit and he might be able to see, just what sort of underwear she might have on…if Jura even wore any.

But he was quick to get his thoughts back as he looked at the smirking blonde bombshell who spoke to him in a very sultry tone.

"Hello there Naruto."

|Hello yourself Jura-san, not that I am complaining about the view above me right now because I am enjoying it VERY much, but I am curious on what brings you here?"

The blonde woman smiled and replied.

"I wanted to talk to you about something, namely about when you can I combine."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that and he could not help but feel his more perverted side begin to affect his brain, and to be honest, it was not an easy thing for him to ignore. He did it though and got up from where he was and slowly rose up, all the while not taking off his eyes from the blonde woman. As soon as he got to a sitting position and was in eye level to Jura, he spoke again.

"We are talking about our machines right?"

The blonde Dread pilot nodded and that gave Naruto both a feeling of relief and a bit of annoyance. The former was due to the fact that it helped cool his libido a bit more since while it was VERY tempting for him to be with Jura in the gym, he knew he was asking for trouble if he was caught like that, with a certain green haired gun toting woman at the head of said lynching party. The latter was that Jura apparently did not yet know that there was a double meaning behind that statement she had made, and it was difficult for him to resist the idea of showing her that same meaning.

"Okay Jura, if it happens, then I am not going to stop you, but don't be surprised if Dita-chan might have something to say about that."

The blonde sighed a bit and nodded.

"I know that, but still it's very much worth it, after what I have seen when you fuse your Vanguard with Meia and Dita's Dreads, it will be interesting to say the least what might come out. Anyway, I was hoping to spar with you again with swords since you're the only sword user on the ship apart from me."

Naruto grinned at that and it was here that he had an idea.

"Say Jura, do you want to know what else I happen to be good at?"

Jura raised an eyebrow at that and wondered just what was cooking in the blonde man's head.

…

Later…

"Okay…hold that pose for a bit longer Jura-san!"

Naruto was now back with his clothes on, though only the lower half of his clothes were on him as Jura was now currently standing in front of him in a rather seductive pose and smiling at the same time. When he told her that he could draw her she was surprised, had she not seen him in action already the mere idea of a man being able to properly draw sounded preposterous, and when he said she would like the drawing of her in ink, she was a bit more dubious.

But she saw him use some very interesting powers and he was certainly a step above the men that were on the ship. And this request was rather interesting in her mind, as it had been a first for her to be asked to pose for a man to make a portrait of her. The blonde was in that pose for only a few minutes in and Naruto was looking at her with a smile and a level of focus and intensity which was rather interesting to say the very least.

Naruto was enjoying this, sure it had been a while since he had done painting but he was happy to have his skills in it intact. That and the fact that the model in question happened to be one very sexy blonde woman added to the whole bonus. The blonde made sure to record her details as he also had some plans in mind to try out when he could.

The painting session was about done when a certain green haired Dread pilot came on the scene, and was already looking at the two blondes with a mix of surprise and wariness. The latter naturally directed at Naruto. Barnette walked over to Jura just as Naruto spoke to the blonde Dread pilot.

"I'm done Jura-san, thanks for posing for me, just need to add a few more touches to wrap it up."

"What's going on here Jura?"

Jura turned and smiled at Barnette.

"I was posing for Naruto who wanted to make a portrait of me, h e said he could do it as a surprise for me so I decided to indulge him."

Barnette raised an eyebrow and looked at both Jura and Naruto, with her look changing to being snide and condescending as she looked at Naruto. She then turned to face Jura and spoke to her blonde friend.

"I think he might disappoint you Jura, thewre's no way a man can actually capture the beauty and form of a woman. I can bet that he might make a really bad picture when he is done. You're better off throwing the thing away when you get it.

…

Naruto grinned a bit more as he turned the sketch pad towards the two women and replied to Barnette's snide comment/taunt/insult.

"Why don't you both take a look and judge?"

The two women were already looking and they were surprised by what they were looking at right now. The picture was done with special ink and despite the fact that the painting was done at a short time, it was very well made and there was not a single flaw at all. The two women moved towards the sketch pad to make sure that they were not being deceived by the blonde Shinobi. As they looked at the detail they were silent as they continued to stare at Jura's portrait.

Naruto grinned a bit at their reactions and recalled how Sai had decided to show him how to draw all those years ago. Sure he and Said did not always see eye to eye, but they did get along after the war. So Sai decided to show him how to draw, though there was no way he could use the same Jutsu Sai could since his ink was the regular kind. He had been doing it ever since he was Hokage and kept it up in secret while on Tarak. Now to do it here was going to be a very…liberating experience.

Jura looked from her image and smiled at Naruto with approval.

"You're pretty good Naruto, I've seen some very good paintings and sketches before, but this is certainly very well made."

"I'm happy you approve Jura-san, I haven't been able to do that in a while since being stuck on Tarak, so I am pleased I was not getting rusty after all that time there. And you were a very good model for making the picture as well so I am very happy. I'll see if I can do another one of you in colors next time."

Jura smiled warmly at that while Barnette was still trying to get used to the fact that Naruto actually did know how to draw and raw very well at the same time. That was obvious to the blonde Shinobi and he decided to spike the waters a bit as he teased Barnette. He knew that he was asking for a bit of a tongue lashing, but if the tongue lashing came from someone as good looking as Barnette, then he was more than willing to let it happen.

"If you want Barnette-san I can even draw you."

Barnette looked at Naruto with a confused eye and did not reply for a moment or two until she spoke to him in a serious tone.

"I doubt I am going to ask you to draw me."

Jura was quick to speak to her friend as she personally found the portrait of her made by Naruto to be very well done and she could not wait to see what he could do with colored ink.

"Oh come on Barnette, it's going to be fun, besides, we have admit that at least Naruto is not like the men from Tarak. He's helped us all a number of times, he certainly seems to be the friendly sort, and not freaking out when we're around. And he certainly seems to appreciate women considering he is very comfortable around us, he compliments our food, our looks, and more and his drawing of me was pretty good. Who knows, you might even like the picture he will draw of you."

Barnette looked at her blonde friend and wished that Jura did not have to give her the 'dreaded sad puppy dog eyes' look. She could not say no to Jura when she was like that, and the fact that her long time friend had a point added more fuel to the fire. Naruto was a lot different from the other men, and she did admit that she found him different from the others. She sighed and replied.

"Fine, but I get to decide when."

Naruto grinned at that and replied in a cheeky tone.

"No problem, you am I to force a lovely lady to follow a schedule anyhow, just tell me when and where and I'll get the inks and the sketch board. I can even draw the both of you together."

Jura beamed at the idea and Barnette began to relax a bit more…that is until Naruto decided to really have some humor to see just how Barnette would react to his next statement.

"And if you really want…I will draw either of you or both of you together naked."

THAT got a reaction as Barnette quickly blushed bright red and looked at Naruto with utter shock and utter astonishment. Jura was surprised and was also blushing a bit but was intrigued by the idea of seeing herself in a portrait naked. Naruto could not help but feel like he MIGHT overstepped his limits just a little bit with that, but he was dead serious as well. For the chance to see Jura and even Barnette in the nude, and willing, he would court being socked in the face by the green haired woman.

And sure enough, Barnette managed to finally get her mental faculties back into order and she spoke quickly to Naruto in a look of utter shock and anger.

"You are NOT going to hear me let you draw ME naked, and no way am I going to let you draw Jura naked either! And there is no way I will let you see either me or Jura naked on any day!"

Jura on the other hand replied in a very interested tone.

"That sounds promising, when do we go and do that Naruto?"

Naruto was utterly pleased by that comment as he had hoped just a tiny bit that Jura would agree to his suggestion, the rest of him doubted that she would agree. But it seemed that his fears were not unfounded. Barnette on the other hand was utterly flabbergasted by what Jura had said only moments before, she knew that Jura was the kind who was not shy about being naked since her blonde friend took great care of herself and had great pride for her body, befitting someone of her looks and figure. Any other day she would not have minded personally, but the idea of a man…seeing not just her naked but Jura as well certainly did not seem the least bit pleasant to her.

It didn't help matters that Naruto was now looking at Jura in a very…unsettling manner, along with her.

"Jura! You can't be serious about this!"

"I am actually, if and when Naruto feels ready, I'm willing to do it."

"But…you can't be seriously considering…allowing a man to see you naked!"

"He does good work and you know I am not shy about showing myself naked at times. Plus if it will help convince him to combine with me then I am willing to do just that."

Naruto silently said a prayer of gratitude to the Kami for this. He could easily tell that Jura was willing to do it and he was ecstatic at the possibilities. Of course he knew that there was a chance that Barnette would royally beat him up to hell if she knew where his thoughts were going, but what the heck, no fun in life without risks.

And besides, he had already drawn his wives when they were naked in the past so he was very much in command of his raging hormones in those moments so it was not going to bother him that much. But he decided to talk to Barnette and try to make her calm down a bit more ash he would not mind seeing her naked as well since despite her temper, she was hot as well.

"Well, you can always keep an eye on me, right Barnette?"

The two women looked at him and he merely grinned as he decided to pick up his gear and took the portrait on the sketch board off and gave it to Jura as he spoke once more.

"When you two finally agree on letting me sketch either of you or both of you in colors or naked, give me a call, I'll be waiting, VERY anxiously."

Naruto left but not before giving both women a wink and got to where his clothes were, Jura could not help but notice that for a man, he looked well toned. Muscles on women were not too attractive on her mind but on Naruto it was a different story altogether…

She shook her head a bit and wondered why she was looking at Naruto like that. She was interested to find ways to convince him to combine her Dread with his Vanguard and if this helped in some way, then she would do it. But she had to admit that there was a certain feeling of excitement on what would happen if he did see her naked. And she briefly wondered why was it there was a part of her that seemed…giddy at the idea.

Barnette on the other hand was not feeling the lead bit comfortable with the idea of letting Naruto see her lover and best friend naked, along with her as well. The idea of a woman, any woman willing to show her body without a single bit of clothing on in front of a man was…it was sacrilegious and allowing one to be utterly polluted by them. Yet Jura seemed willing to actually allow Naruto to look at her, and he seemed to be very much excited by the idea.

That was more than enough to make Barnette wish she could have the men, especially Naruto leave the ship right this instant! It was so wrong in so many ways to have men on a ship were there were only women. But yet she could not do that, Naruto was no pushover as she had seen and there was no doubt with the powers he had, he was not going to be easily beaten. But it was balanced by the fact that he seemed to be very much comfortable around women as well, and it seemed to her that he had the support of some of the women.

She sighed and prayed to Grand Ma that there was a way to bring this all to an end, and she hoped that Jura was only kidding about allowing Naruto to see and paint her naked, as well as her. And she resolutely vowed to make sure that he was given serious limitations.

A TINY voice in her mind however was telling her that there was more to her defensiveness than she let on.

…

In the men's side of the Nirvana…

As for the blonde in question, he was currently walking back to his room and getting into his clothes as well as putting away his supplies. He then sat down and sighed a bit as he recalled his day thus far. Being with Dita was nice and also hanging out with Paiway for a bit was just as helpful since this way she could get used to having him around. He could sense that Paiway was not too happy with him spending time with Dita, which was understandable to him since they had been the best of friends long before he showed up.

He decided to talk to Paiway when he can and hope that he could smooth things out between him and the precocious eleven year old. The last thing he wanted was a misunderstanding that could be used to make things less than pleasant for not just him but everyone else on the ship as well. He might still have his old habits and attitude, but he did grow up somewhat and he was not going to take any risks that did not have some good results.

He then got into one of his sealing scrolls, opened it up and soon unsealed what was inside, that being none other than his photo-album of his loved ones. He smiled as he looked at the images and it was nice to see them without having to worry too much about people barging in to surprise him. Back on Tarak he was not able to watch them due to the fact that the government agents were more than willing to watch the areas lived in by their people so he could not reveal his powers, or the pictures of his wives and their children, along with his friends and family.

As he looked at each picture, he fondly recalled the memories he had with them all and he hoped that once he was done here, as was requested by his grand aunt Mito, he could live on until he could finally pass on. Though he had a feeling his resident, Kurama was going to make that impossible.

(("You're darn right I'll make it impossible you blonde haired twit."))

(I was wondering when I was going to chat with you again Kurama, what the heck is the reason you've been keeping silent all this time?)

(("First off brat, the reason I have been quiet is the fact that I did not find anything worth talking about in a while. Though these battles with those Harvesters have been interesting enough so I was not too bored in your stomach, along with all the flirting you've been doing lately. You still haven't revealed your real self to the crew here."))

(Yeah, telling them that I am actually close to a hundred years old yet still look very young, and I have one of the most powerful beings that can be called demons in a sense in my body from the day I was born, as well as having the powers of seven other demons in me. That's a really good pickup line with the ladies, don't you think?)

(("Hah, point and match to you then, still, you did tell the young redhead Dita about some of your past so it's not a total lose I think. Anyway, I am dying to face some real foes soon, heck I'll even settle for facing one of those Cube Fighters one on one myself. Let's see how these…high tech foes match up to me."))

("You'll get your chance Kurama. I get the feeling that they are going to be the least of the foes we'll be facing.)

(("Good, now then, let's talk about the ladies you seem to be charming right now, that blonde babe named Jura for example seems to be an interesting one, as well as her green haired friend even though she looks like she seems to want to throttle you first chance she gets. That girl Dita certainly looks promising as well, very well formed and good looking while sweet and innocent, very good combination. And there's that blue haired Ice Queen Meia, she's not all bad, and who knows, melting away the ice might just be what the medic nin ordered. You planning on letting them find out just what they happen to be missing out on when it comes to being with men?"))

(Ah not yet, the last thing I want is the elderly Captain to find out and give her excuse to space the both of us.)

(("Hah, she can try, and we'll prove her that it's a bad idea to even suggest it. Besides that, it's not like she can find anyone to pilot that machine of yours since I doubt it will respond without you in it. Anyhow, you already got a LOT of experience on how to make women happy, the marriages you had in the past is more than enough proof of that after all. I can wager a bet that after only a night or two under your…tender ministrations, you'd have them wrapped around your finger or your dick as you humans call is a good thing in my book since it's been a LONG time coming don't you think?"))

The laugh Kurama gave made Naruto raise a mental eyebrow at that as he spoke to the tailed beast in him.

(I never thought I'd hear that come from you of all beings, I swear that if the Pervy Sage ever found out about this, he'd be laughing too.)

(("You're no saint yourself Naruto, you're a pervert and don't bother trying to deny it either since we both know that it's true. And I can bet that right now the images of these women in question are now in your memories. Not that I am complaining mind you since they happen to provide me with a great deal of entertainment in your head."))

Anything Naruto was going to say was placed aside when the alarms came all over the ship, meaning that there was going to be an attack by the Harvesters coming their way.

…

The alarms proved to be accurate as a new band of Harvesters were now on the move for the Nirvana itself. There also seemed to be a mix of the previous alien fighters that had been defeated by the Nirvana from before in the asteroid field. But this time they were willing to fight the Dreads and Naruto in his Vanguard on open space.

Jura was very eager to fuse with Naruto once more but, as before Dita was quick to get ahead of the blonde Dread pilot. Thus VanDread Dita was now on the field and Jura was vowing that the next time, Dita was not going to get her chance. Naruto himself wished that this was not going become something that was going to bite him and everyone else in the butt later on. But he decided place that aside as they all headed off to fight the Harvesters.

As the group moved out with the Dreads behind Dita and Naruto who's machines were now fused together, Magno could not help but wonder just how things were going to turn out now that Naruto was really surprising people. She had heard about what he had told Dita from the young redhead herself and she was curious just how this was going to affect everyone in the ship.

She had no idea just how accurate her thoughts were going to be in the near future.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Not the most promising of starts in getting this story back on track, but you have to start somewhere along the lines right?

Anyway, as you can guess this chapter is a modified variant of the original episode of VanDread and this is where Naruto is trying to deal with the fact that his more perverted side is now getting the better of him in more ways than one. As you can see, unlike Hibiki who blows a gasket, Naruto is very appreciative of women who do nice things for others and Dita is certainly one of them and he loves that in people. He is also trying his best not to do something that could get him into hot water…but considering the fact that he is on a ship LOADED with young and very attractive women…it's not an easy feat.

Dita is very happy being with Naruto and after he told her some stories about his world, though not too much detail and he slightly lies about it, she expresses a wish to try and go there and see the place Naruto has seen. And even when Naruto tells her that he can't go back any time soon, she is not troubled and wants to hear more.

Meia now is a bit more interested and curious on what and who Naruto really is, and Jura is also getting a bit more interested on Naruto. After all, he managed to draw her in a very interesting fashion and you can bet she is surprised a man can draw rather well. Though you can bet that Barnette is not going to be all too happy with the news that Naruto had asked Jura is she would let him draw her naked and in colors too. Though how she would take it if he gave her the same offer and even suggest he draw the BOTH of them naked is anyone's guess!

Anyhow, this will be the current update as I will be cracking out another one at a later date so try not to ask me too many times on the next update. As I said I am very busy to update all my non Halo stories so I will not be working on my Halo stories so I hope that I am clear on this matter once and for all. I will make the updates for the Halo stories when I am able to finish what updates I have planned.

…

On the next chapter that I will be working on at some point, we will now be dealing with a certain smooth talking rat of a trader. Rabat is going to be in for a serious surprise once he faces Naruto who will be more than ready to fight back. The battle between Naruto and Rabat will not be in the same league as is had been when it was a fight between Hibiki and Rabat.

Naruto will quickly develop a dislike for Rabat and will not hesitate to make that obvious to everyone, especially Rabat. And while it is obvious that Naruto has no prior experience and meeting with Rabat in the past, his experiences will be more than enough to help him sense that Rabat is a person who is not to be the least bit trusted.

See you all soon!

.


	8. Not a chapter

Hell readers, I know that normally you would be expecting a new chapter update, but this is obviously not one of them. I right now I have good news and bad news.

Bad news first since it has to be squared away so we can get to the good news. Just yesterday afternoon here in my side of the world, I received the scan warning of my PC that my hard drive has finally become bad and failure is imminent. I have been hearing weird noises from my HD for some time and after having it diagnosed, my cousin finally confirmed that it is reaching the end of it's ability to function. And now that day has come so now I have to either have it replaced or repaired.

And considering the fact that it's an older HDD model, I am not sure if it can be repaired, I will ask my cousin if he can try to repair it but if it is not salvageable then I have no other option but to buy a new one. And considering my family's current finances which is not too good but not too bad either, it might take a while. So that means my PC is dead in the water

Now the good news, I have managed to back up all my files prior to the collapse of the HD in my USB devices so it's not a total loss. I will find a way to upload all my recently updated non Halo files into the site and continue there until I solve my hard drive problem. If that works out, then I will be able to still update my work so it will not be long before I continue. So if you see a new update after this message is sent, then you will know that I am still alive and kicking.

Just to be clear, all Halo stories are still on ice so don't ask me about them. I will unfreeze them when I have done what I want with the non Halo ones. And the non Halo stories will still be updated whenever possible so don't worry about them.

…

I know this is not what anyone wants, but it was bound to happen eventually so I have to make the most of it.

See you all soon.


End file.
